# The Companies (Northern Ireland) Order 1986 (revoked), Article 440: Department's power to require production of documents

Extent: N.I.

Para. (1) rep. by 1990 NI 10
(2) The Department may at any time, if it thinks there is good reason to do so, give directions to a company requiring it, at such time and place as may be specified in the directions, to produce such documents as may be so specified
(3) The Department may at any time, if it thinks there is good reason to do so, authorise an officer of the Department or any other competent person, on producing (if so required) evidence of his authority, to require a company to produce to him forthwith any documents which he may specify.
(4) Where by virtue of paragraph (2) or (3) the Department or an officer of the Department or other person has power to require the production of documents from a company, the Department or the officer or other person has the like power to require production of those documents from any person who appears to the Department or the officer or other person to be in possession of them; but where any such person claims a lien on documents produced by him, the production is without prejudice to the lien.
(5)The power under this Article to require a company or other person to produce documents includes power—
(a)if the documents are produced—
(i)to take copies of them or extracts from them, and
(ii)to require that person, or any other person who is a present or past officer of, or is or was at any time employed by, the company in question, to provide an explanation of any of them;
(b)if the documents are not produced, to require the person who was required to produce them to state, to the best of his knowledge and belief, where they are.
(6) If the requirement to produce documents or provide an explanation or make a statement is not complied with, the company or other person on whom the requirement was so imposed is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine.
Articles 680 (restriction on prosecutions), 680A (liability of individuals for corporate default) and 680B (criminal proceedings against unincorporated bodies) apply to this offence.
(7) However, where a person is charged with an offence under paragraph (6) in respect of a requirement to produce any documents, it is a defence to prove that they were not in his possession or under his control and that it was not reasonably practicable for him to comply with the requirement.
(8) A statement made by a person in compliance with such a requirement may be used in evidence against him.
(8A) However, in criminal proceedings in which that person is charged with an offence to which this paragraph applies—
(a) no evidence relating to the statement may be adduced, and
(b) no question relating to it may be asked,
by or on behalf of the prosecution, unless evidence relating to it is adduced, or a question relating to it is asked, in the proceedings by or on behalf of that person.
(8B) Paragraph (8A) applies to any offence other than—
(a) an offence under paragraph (6) or Article 444; or
(b) an offence under Article 10 of the Perjury (Northern Ireland) Order 1979 (false statements made otherwise than an oath.
(9) In this Article “documents” includes information recorded in any form; and, in relation to information recorded otherwise than in legible form, the power to require its production includes power to require the production of a copy of it in legible form, or in a form from which it can readily be produced in visible and legible form.

---
Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisi/1986/1032/article/440 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/companies-northern-ireland-order-1986-revoked/article-440
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.