Legalize / United Kingdom / Public General Act

Crime (International Co-operation) Act 2003

Type Public General Act

Publication 2003-10-30

State In force

Department Statute Law Database

Source legislation.gov.uk

Reform history JSON API

Part 1 — Mutual assistance in criminal matters

Chapter 1 — Mutual service of process etc.

Service of overseas process in the UK

Service of overseas process

1

(1) The power conferred by subsection (3) is exercisable where the Secretary of State receives any process or other document to which this section applies from the government of, or other authority in, a country outside the United Kingdom, together with a request for the process or document to be served on a person in the United Kingdom.

(2) This section applies—

(a) to any process issued or made in that country for the purposes of criminal proceedings,

(b) to any document issued or made by an administrative authority in that country in administrative proceedings,

(c) to any process issued or made for the purposes of any proceedings on an appeal before a court in that country against a decision in administrative proceedings,

(d) to any document issued or made by an authority in that country for the purposes of clemency proceedings.

(3) The Secretary of State may cause the process or document to be served by post or, if the request is for personal service, direct the chief officer of police for the area in which that person appears to be to cause it to be personally served on him.

(4) In relation to any process or document to be served in Scotland, references in this section to the Secretary of State are to be read as references to the Lord Advocate.

Service of overseas process: supplementary

2

(1) Subsections (2) and (3) apply to any process served in a part of the United Kingdom by virtue of section 1 requiring a person to appear as a party or attend as a witness.

(2) No obligation under the law of that part to comply with the process is imposed by virtue of its service.

(3) The process must be accompanied by a notice—

(a) stating the effect of subsection (2),

(b) indicating that the person on whom it is served may wish to seek advice as to the possible consequences of his failing to comply with the process under the law of the country where it was issued or made, and

(c) indicating that under that law he may not be accorded the same rights and privileges as a party or as a witness as would be accorded to him in proceedings in the part of the United Kingdom in which the process is served.

(4) Where a chief officer of police causes any process or document to be served under section 1, he must at once—

(a) tell the Secretary of State (or, as the case may be, the Lord Advocate) when and how it was served, and

(b) (if possible) provide him with a receipt signed by the person on whom it was served.

(5) Where the chief officer of police is unable to cause any process or document to be served as directed, he must at once inform the Secretary of State (or, as the case may be, the Lord Advocate) of that fact and of the reason.

Service of UK process abroad

General requirements for service of process

3

(1) This section applies to any process issued or made for the purposes of criminal proceedings by a court in England and Wales or Northern Ireland.

(2) The process may be issued or made in spite of the fact that the person on whom it is to be served is outside the United Kingdom.

(3) Where the process is to be served outside the United Kingdom and the person at whose request it is issued or made believes that the person on whom it is to be served does not understand English, he must—

(a) inform the court of that fact, and

(b) provide the court with a copy of the process, or of so much of it as is material, translated into an appropriate language.

(4) Process served outside the United Kingdom requiring a person to appear as a party or attend as a witness—

(a) must not include notice of a penalty,

(b) must be accompanied by a notice giving any information required to be given by rules of court.

(5) If process requiring a person to appear as a party or attend as a witness is served outside the United Kingdom, no obligation to comply with the process under the law of the part of the United Kingdom in which the process is issued or made is imposed by virtue of the service.

(6) Accordingly, failure to comply with the process does not constitute contempt of court and is not a ground for issuing a warrant to secure the attendance of the person in question.

(7) But the process may subsequently be served on the person in question in the United Kingdom (with the usual consequences for non-compliance).

Service of process otherwise than by post

4

(1) Process to which section 3 applies may, instead of being served by post, be served on a person outside the United Kingdom in accordance with arrangements made by the Secretary of State.

(2) But where the person is in a participating country, the process may be served in accordance with those arrangements only if one of the following conditions is met.

(3) The conditions are—

(a) that the correct address of the person is unknown,

(b) that it has not been possible to serve the process by post,

General requirements for effecting Scottish citation etc.

5

(1) This section applies to any citation for the purposes of criminal proceedings in Scotland and to any document issued there for such purposes by the prosecutor or by the court.

(2) The citation may proceed or document be issued in spite of the fact that the person against whom it is to be effected or on whom it is to be served is outside the United Kingdom.

(3) Where—

(a) citation or issue is by the prosecutor,

(b) the citation is to be effected or the document issued is to be served outside the United Kingdom, and

(c) the prosecutor believes that the person against whom it is to be effected or on whom it is to be served does not understand English,

the citation or document must be accompanied by a translation of it (or, in the case of a document, by a translation of so much of it as is material) in an appropriate language.

(4) Where—

(a) citation or issue is by the court,

(b) the citation is to be effected or the document issued is to be served outside the United Kingdom, and

(c) the person at whose request that is to happen believes that the person against whom it is to be effected or on whom it is to be served does not understand English,

he must inform the court of that fact, and provide the court with a copy of the citation or document (or, in the case of a document, so much of it as is material) translated into an appropriate language.

(5) A citation effected outside the United Kingdom—

(a) must not include notice of a penalty,

(b) must be accompanied by a notice giving any information required to be given by rules of court.

(6) If a citation is effected outside the United Kingdom, no obligation under the law of Scotland to comply with the citation is imposed by virtue of its being so effected.

(7) Accordingly, failure to comply with the citation does not constitute contempt of court and is not a ground for issuing a warrant to secure the attendance of the person in question or for imposing any penalty.

(8) But the citation may subsequently be effected against the person in question in the United Kingdom (with the usual consequences for non-compliance).

Effecting Scottish citation etc. otherwise than by post

6

(1) A citation or document to which section 5 applies may, instead of being effected or served by post, be effected against or served on a person outside the United Kingdom in accordance with arrangements made by the Lord Advocate.

(2) But where the person is in a participating country, the citation may be effected or document served in accordance with those arrangements only if one of the following conditions is met.

(3) The conditions are—

(a) that the correct address of the person is unknown,

(b) that it has not been possible to effect the citation or serve the document by post,

(c) that there are good reasons for thinking that citation or (as the case may be) service by post will not be effective or is inappropriate.

Chapter 2 — Mutual provision of evidence

Assistance in obtaining evidence abroad

Requests for assistance in obtaining evidence abroad

7

(1) If it appears to a judicial authority in the United Kingdom on an application made by a person mentioned in subsection (3)—

(a) that an offence has been committed or that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that an offence has been committed, and

(b) that proceedings in respect of the offence have been instituted or that the offence is being investigated,

the judicial authority may request assistance under this section.

(2) The assistance that may be requested under this section is assistance in obtaining outside the United Kingdom any evidence specified in the request for use in the proceedings or investigation.

(3) The application may be made—

(a) in relation to England and Wales and Northern Ireland, by a prosecuting authority,

(b) in relation to Scotland, by the Lord Advocate or a procurator fiscal,

(4) The judicial authorities are—

(a) in relation to England and Wales, any judge or justice of the peace,

(b) in relation to Scotland, any judge of the High Court or sheriff,

(5) In relation to England and Wales or Northern Ireland, a designated prosecuting authority may itself request assistance under this section if—

(a) it appears to the authority that an offence has been committed or that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that an offence has been committed, and

(b) the authority has instituted proceedings in respect of the offence in question or it is being investigated.

“Designated” means designated by an order made by the Secretary of State.

(6) In relation to Scotland, the Lord Advocate or a procurator fiscal may himself request assistance under this section if it appears to him—

(a) that an offence has been committed or that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that an offence has been committed, and

(b) that proceedings in respect of the offence have been instituted or that the offence is being investigated.

(7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sending requests for assistance

8

(1) A request for assistance under section 7 may be sent—

(a) to a court exercising jurisdiction in the place where the evidence is situated, or

(b) to any authority recognised by the government of the country in question as the appropriate authority for receiving requests of that kind.

(2) Alternatively, if it is a request by a judicial authority or a designated prosecuting authority it may be sent to the Secretary of State (in Scotland, the Lord Advocate) for forwarding to a court or authority mentioned in subsection (1).

(3) In cases of urgency, a request for assistance may be sent to—

(a) the International Criminal Police Organisation, or

(b) any body or person competent to receive it under any provisions adopted under the Treaty on European Union,

for forwarding to any court or authority mentioned in subsection (1).

Use of evidence obtained

9

(1) This section applies to evidence obtained pursuant to a request for assistance under section 7.

(2) The evidence may not without the consent of the appropriate overseas authority be used for any purpose other than that specified in the request.

(3) When the evidence is no longer required for that purpose (or for any other purpose for which such consent has been obtained), it must be returned to the appropriate overseas authority, unless that authority indicates that it need not be returned.

(4) In exercising the discretion conferred by ... Article 5 of the Criminal Justice (Evidence, Etc.) (Northern Ireland) Order 1988 (S.I. 1988/ 1847 (N.I. 17)) (exclusion of evidence otherwise admissible) in relation to a statement contained in the evidence, the court must have regard—

(a) to whether it was possible to challenge the statement by questioning the person who made it, and

(b) if proceedings have been instituted, to whether the local law allowed the parties to the proceedings to be legally represented when the evidence was being obtained.

(5) In Scotland, the evidence may be received in evidence without being sworn to by witnesses, so far as that may be done without unfairness to either party.

(6) In this section, the appropriate overseas authority means the authority recognised by the government of the country in question as the appropriate authority for receiving requests of the kind in question.

Domestic freezing orders

10

(1) If it appears to a judicial authority in the United Kingdom, on an application made by a person mentioned in subsection (4)—

(a) that proceedings in respect of a listed offence have been instituted or such an offence is being investigated,

(b) that there are reasonable grounds to believe that there is evidence in a participating country which satisfies the requirements of subsection (3), and

(c) that a request has been made, or will be made, under section 7 for the evidence to be sent to the authority making the request,

the judicial authority may make a domestic freezing order in respect of the evidence.

(2) A domestic freezing order is an order for protecting evidence which is in the participating country pending its transfer to the United Kingdom.

(3) The requirements are that the evidence—

(a) is on premises specified in the application in the participating country,

(b) is likely to be of substantial value (whether by itself or together with other evidence) to the proceedings or investigation,

(d) does not consist of or include items subject to legal privilege.

(4) The application may be made—

(a) in relation to England and Wales and Northern Ireland, by a constable,

(b) in relation to Scotland, by the Lord Advocate or a procurator fiscal.

(5) The judicial authorities are—

(a) in relation to England and Wales, any judge or justice of the peace,

(b) in relation to Scotland, any judge of the High Court or sheriff,

(6) This section does not prejudice the generality of the power to make a request for assistance under section 7.

Sending freezing orders

11

(1) A domestic freezing order made in England and Wales or Northern Ireland is to be sent to the Secretary of State for forwarding to—

(a) a court exercising jurisdiction in the place where the evidence is situated, or

(b) any authority recognised by the government of the country in question as the appropriate authority for receiving orders of that kind.

(2) A domestic freezing order made in Scotland is to be sent to the Lord Advocate for forwarding to such a court or authority.

(3) The judicial authority is to send the order to the Secretary of State or the Lord Advocate before the end of the period of 14 days beginning with its being made.

(4) The order must be accompanied by a certificate giving the specified information and, unless the certificate indicates when the judicial authority expects such a request to be made, by a request under section 7 for the evidence to be sent to the authority making the request.

(5) The certificate must include a translation of it into an appropriate language of the participating country (if that language is not English).

(6) The certificate must be signed by or on behalf of the judicial authority who made the order and must include a statement as to the accuracy of the information given in it.

The signature may be an electronic signature.

Variation or revocation of freezing orders

12

(1) The judicial authority that made a domestic freezing order may vary or revoke it on an application by a person mentioned below.

(2) The persons are—

(a) the person who applied for the order,

(b) in relation to England and Wales and Northern Ireland, a prosecuting authority,

(d) any other person affected by the order.

Assisting overseas authorities to obtain evidence in the UK

Requests for assistance from overseas authorities

13

(1) Where a request for assistance in obtaining evidence in a part of the United Kingdom is received by the territorial authority for that part, the authority may—

(a) if the conditions in section 14 are met, arrange for the evidence to be obtained under section 15, or

(b) direct that a search warrant be applied for under or by virtue of section 16 or 17 or, in relation to evidence in Scotland, 18.

(2) The request for assistance may be made only by—

(a) a court exercising criminal jurisdiction, or a prosecuting authority, in a country outside the United Kingdom,

(b) any other authority in such a country which appears to the territorial authority to have the function of making such requests for assistance,

(3) The international authorities are—

(a) the International Criminal Police Organisation,

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