Obligation to return items subject to legal privilege
23.—(1) This paragraph applies where, at any time after a seizure of anything has been made in exercise of a power of seizure to which this article applies, it appears to the person for the time being having possession of the seized property in consequence of the seizure that the property—
(a)is an item subject to legal privilege; or
(b)has such an item comprised in it.
(2) Where paragraph (1) applies, it shall be the duty of the person for the time being having possession of the seized property to secure that the item is returned as soon as reasonably practicable after the seizure, unless the item—
(a)was seized in exercise of a power other than the power under section 76(1)(c), section 87(4) or section 88(4) of the Act; and
(b)is comprised in property which—
(i)has been lawfully seized; and
(ii)is property falling within paragraph (3).
(3) Property in which an item subject to legal privilege is comprised falls within this paragraph if—
(a)the whole or a part of the rest of the property is property falling within paragraph (4) or property the retention of which is authorised by article 25; and
(b)in all the circumstances, it is not reasonably practicable for that item to be separated from the rest of that property (or, as the case may be, from that part of it) without prejudicing the use of the rest of that property, or that part of it, for purposes for which (disregarding that item) its use, if retained, would be lawful.
(4) Property falls within this paragraph to the extent that it is property for which the person seizing it had power to search when he made the seizure, but is not property which is required to be returned under this article or article 24.
(5) This article applies to each of the powers of seizure conferred by Part 3 of the Act or by this Order.