16.—(1) Part II of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984(1) (powers of entry, search and seizure) has effect as if—
(a)references to indictable offences in section 8 of and Schedule 1 to that Act included any conduct which constitutes a Mechanism crime and which would constitute an indictable offence if it had occurred in any part of the United Kingdom; and
(b)references to an enactment or an enactment contained in an Act included references to this Order.
(2) If, on an application made by a constable, a justice of the peace is satisfied—
(a)that proceedings have been instituted for the indictment of a person by the Mechanism or that a person has been arrested during an investigation by the Mechanism;
(b)that the conduct constituting the Mechanism crime which is the subject of the proceedings or investigation would constitute an indictable offence within the meaning of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 if it had occurred in any part of the United Kingdom; and
(c)that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that there is on premises in the United Kingdom occupied or controlled by that person evidence relating to the Mechanism crime other than items subject to legal privilege within the meaning of that Act,
the justice of the peace may issue a warrant authorising a constable to enter and search those premises and to seize any such evidence found there.
(3) The power to search conferred by paragraph (2) is only a power to search to the extent that it is reasonably required for the purposes of discovering such evidence as is there mentioned.
(4) An application for a warrant or order may only be made under paragraph (1) or (2) in pursuance of a direction given by the Secretary of State in response to a request received from the Mechanism, and any evidence seized by a constable under this article must be furnished by the constable to the Secretary of State for transmission to the Mechanism.
(5) If to comply with the request it is necessary for any such evidence to be accompanied by any certificate, affidavit or other verifying document the constable must also furnish for transmission such document of that nature as may be specified in the direction given by the Secretary of State.
(6) Where the evidence consists of a document the original or a copy must be transmitted, and where it consists of any other article the article itself or a description, photograph or other representation of it must be transmitted as may be necessary to comply with the request.
(7) In the application of this article to Northern Ireland—
(a)for any reference to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 there is substituted a reference to the Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989(2),
(b)for any reference to Part II and section 8 of and Schedule 1 to that Act there is substituted a reference to Part III and article 10 of and Schedule 1 to that Order, and
(c)for any reference to justice of the peace, there is substituted lay magistrate.
1984 c. 60. Part II is amended by the Public Order Act 1986 (c. 64), Schedule 2, para. 7, the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 (c. 33), section 169(1) and Schedule 4, para. 80, the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 (c. 16), section 86(1) and Schedule 2, Part II, para. 13, the Courts Act 2003 (c. 39) sections, 65, 109, 110, Schedule 4, para. 5, and Schedule 8, para. 281, the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (c. 44), sections 2, 12, 336 and Schedule 1 paragraphs 3 and 4, the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (c. 15), sections 111, 113, 114, and Schedule 7, Part 3, para.43, S.I. 2005/3495, article 2, and S.I. 2005/3496, articles 7 and 8. There are other amendments, but none are relevant.
S.I. 1989/1341 (N.I. 12), as amended by S.I. 2007/288 (N.I.2), articles 1(2), 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, and S.I. 2008/1216 (N.I.1), article 1(3) and 86.