Section 20 — Power to require production of documents etc
This version in force from 2022-06-06
Snapshot: 2026-08-24
Reproduced from legislation.gov.uk (Crown Copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0). Amendments made after 2026-08-24 may not be reflected — always check the official text .
(1) This section applies where a police or customs officer is exercising a power of search conferred by section 15, 16 or 17 in relation to any premises.
(2) The officer may require any person on the premises to produce any document or record in the person's possession or control that the officer thinks is or is likely to be relevant to—
(a) the question whether a relevant offence has been committed, or
(b) the investigation of a relevant offence.
(3) A reference in this section to the production of a document includes a reference to the production of—
(a) a hard copy of information recorded otherwise than in hard copy form, or
(b) information in a form from which a hard copy can be readily obtained.
(4) For the purposes of this section—
(a) information is recorded in “hard copy form” if it is recorded in a paper copy or similar form capable of being read (and references to “hard copy” have a corresponding meaning);
(b) information can be read only if—
(i) it can be read with the naked eye, or
(ii) to the extent that it consists of images (for example photographs, pictures, maps, plans or drawings), it can be seen with the naked eye.