Police authority meaning

During a criminal inquiry, HMRC may apply to a magistrate for a warrant authorising entry to and search of premises. It may also seize and retain any material specified in the warrant. The extent of HMRC’s powers to investigate criminal offences, and the situations in which they may be exercised, is outlined in Practice Note: HMRC criminal investigations and dawn raids. This Checklist offers a practical set of dos and don’ts for a dawn raid. It can act as a handy reference for clients who might face a dawn raid. The procedures described should be communicated to staff in advance. As the client will not know about the raid before it happens, this may be problematic. It may be possible to circulate the guide on a ‘just in case’ basis. It is also sensible to train key staff on how to manage and respond to a dawn raid. What to expect in a dawn raid In a tax context, a dawn raid means a visit from HMRC...

This Checklist Read this Checklist alongside the other Practice Notes mentioned below. Specifically, for voluntary interviews held under caution, consult Practice Note: Voluntary attendance at an interview under caution. A defence solicitor present at an interview under caution must be conversant with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE 1984) and associated PACE Codes of Practice. This Checklist relates to attendance at the police station in the context of general criminal investigations. Distinct rules and processes apply to certain alternative matters, including interviews carried out by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Serious Fraud Office (SFO) or National Crime Agency (NCA)...

Checklist This Checklist outlines the principal matters and actions practitioners should address when formulating an application under section 78 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE 1984) to bar identification evidence owing to non‑compliance with Code of Practice D (PACE Code D). It also addresses relevant disclosure obligations, the relationship with the Turnbull guidelines and the Crown Court Compendium, and the court’s ongoing authority to exclude or confine identification evidence during the trial. For guidance on applications under PACE 1984, s 78 to exclude evidence, see the Practice Note: Exclusion of unfair evidence in criminal proceedings. For comprehensive advice on contesting identification evidence, see the Practice Note: Challenging visual identification evidence...

In this issue: Horizon scanning Status and worker categories Benefits Prohibited conduct Unfair dismissal Settlement Employment tribunals Dates for your diary Trackers New Q&As Employment resources on Lexis+® LexTalk®Employment: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts Horizon scanning What to watch in Employment law this winter In 2025, the government’s suite of employment reforms has set the pace, yet noteworthy shifts in case law and workplace culture also merit close attention as winter draws in. Some updates will stem from regulators, including the Financial Conduct Authority, which is anticipated to finalise guidance on tackling non-financial misconduct. Practitioners should also be mindful of the broader adoption of artificial intelligence, alongside a rise in employees voicing politically sensitive opinions at work, both of which demand vigilance as 2026 approaches. See Law360: What to watch in employment law this winter. Status and worker categories European Parliament ready to negotiate better...

In this issue: Investigating criminal conduct Criminal procedure and evidence Sentencing Bribery, corruption, sanctions and export controls Consumer protection and cartels Environmental offences Financial services and pensions offences Fraud, forgery, tax and theft offences Health and safety and corporate manslaughter offences Local authority prosecutions Money laundering International Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Investigating criminal conduct Refusal to repurpose evidence in civil proceedings for criminal charging decision (WFZ v British Broadcasting Corp) The High Court has recently clarified the circumstances in which a party will be permitted to rely on witness statements outside the proceedings in which they were first served. In ongoing injunction proceedings aimed at stopping publication of a BBC investigative report into sexual abuse allegations, the court determined that the accused could not use sensitive excerpts from that report in representations to the...

Robinson v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police [2018] UKSC 4, [2018] All ER (D) 47 (Feb) What are the practical implications of the decision? In this ruling, the Supreme Court confirmed there is no blanket immunity excluding police liability in the context of preventing and investigating crime. The police owe a duty of care, consistent with orthodox tort principles, not to inflict foreseeable personal injury on others by their affirmative acts. Defence practitioners have called it the most significant police case in a generation. Because the Court articulated wide principles regarding duties of care in tort and the accountability of public bodies, the ramifications extend well beyond the traditional bounds of civil claims against the police. The Court therefore reasserted conventional tort doctrine over the more recent judicial practice of resolving matters through policy-balancing to decide whether it is just, fair and reasonable to recognise a duty. The judgment may prompt a re‑calibration of the law in other fields, including the liability of social...

The development of the law Alcock v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police has traditionally stood as the principal authority on secondary victim claims. Subsequent jurisprudence after Alcock evolved in a piecemeal way, with decisions that were sometimes inconsistent. The Supreme Court's ruling in Paul v Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust has introduced several revisions and offered much-needed certainty for practitioners. Grasping the landscape both before and after Paul matters because the underlying principles have been refined and clarified, though not every element has altered. Accordingly, this Practice Note is arranged into pre-Paul and post-Paul parts. The amendments attributable to Paul are clearly signposted within this Practice Note. For deeper commentary on the judgment, consult News Analysis: Landmark Supreme Court decision on secondary victims (Paul v Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust). It must be appreciated that claims by secondary victims form an exception to the general rule that, at common law, one individual has no legal entitlement to compensation concerning the physical integrity or condition of another. As with any exception,...

This Practice Note examines the authority to detain an individual without a warrant for extradition to designated category 2 states. It outlines the legal foundation for that arrest power and explains how a compliant request is generated, certified and served. It further describes the steps for producing the individual before the court pursuant to such a certified request. Provisional arrest under the Extradition Act 2003 Section 74B of the Extradition Act 2003 (EA 2003) confers on constables, customs officers and service policemen a power of provisional arrest without a warrant, for extraditing persons for serious offences to specified countries on the basis that a certificate has been issued in relation to the person. A constable or customs officer may exercise this power in any part of the UK. A service policeman may exercise the power anywhere, but only in relation to someone who is subject to service law or a civilian subject to service discipline. The premise is that the police will have been alerted to the fact...

Court of Appeal—professional negligence ARCHIVED : This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. The Court of Appeal upheld an appeal in a claim against solicitors, holding that the loss of a chance head of damage was too remote. At first instance, the judge concluded that Lewis Silkin LLP had fallen below the required standard by not advising their client to include a jurisdiction provision in his employment agreement with a franchisee involved in the Indian Premier League’s Twenty20 competition. Because no jurisdiction clause appeared in the contract, when the client later issued proceedings against the franchisee over a severance entitlement, he faced jurisdictional challenges (ultimately dismissed) brought by the franchisee, which postponed his obtaining judgment for £10 million in severance. The client’s case was that, with proper advice on jurisdiction, the contract would have contained an exclusive jurisdiction clause. On that footing, he said, he would have secured judgment for the severance sum sooner (as there would have been no hold‑ups arising from jurisdiction objections) and...

1 What is a dawn raid? A dawn raid refers to an unannounced attendance by the police or investigators from another prosecuting authority to search premises where they suspect a business or individual has been involved in criminal conduct. Teams commonly arrive first thing in the morning (hence the term ‘dawn’), with the surprise element intended to secure, protect and preserve evidence. Methods are often robust and forceful, meaning the organisation must respond rapidly and appropriately to satisfy its obligations and minimise interference with the day‑to‑day operation of the business. 2 Where do the investigators come from? In the UK, a range of authorities have powers to carry out dawn raids. These may include, but are not limited to: Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) the police Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Serious Fraud Office (SFO) HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) Health and Safety Executive (HSE) 3 What are the chances of a...

The [ insert name of Traffic Authority ] ([ insert name of road and its location ]) (Prohibition of [ Waiting OR Driving OR Loading OR Double Parking ]) Order [ insert year ] By virtue of the powers granted by section 2, sub-sections [ insert as appropriate ] of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the 1984 Act’), together with all other enabling powers, and after consultation with the Chief Officer of Police, the [ insert name of Traffic Authority ] hereby makes the following Order: This Order, titled [ insert the Order’s full title as set out above ], shall come into force on [ insert commencement date ]. For the purposes of this Order, ‘Parking Disc’ means a blue-coloured parking card issued to a disabled person, which entitles that person to special local parking arrangements, and is capable of indicating the quarter-hour interval at which a period of waiting starts... ...

1 Introduction 1.1 A dawn raid may take place at any company, whether large or small, so all organisations should remain alert to the chance that one could occur. 1.2 What is a dawn raid? 1.2.1 A dawn raid is an unannounced attendance by the police and/or investigators from another prosecuting authority to search premises and collect material where there is a suspicion that the business or a person connected with it has engaged in criminal conduct. 1.2.2 During such a visit, investigators may: examine paper and digital records review and remove documents, electronic data and devices, and question staff 1.3 Who can carry out a dawn raid? The range of prosecutors and regulators empowered to conduct dawn raids has grown in recent years. Law Enforcement Agencies able to do so include (without limitation) the Serious Fraud Office, the Financial Conduct Authority, the police, the Health and Safety Executive, the Competition and Markets Authority...