Rule 47.10 Application for a production order under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984I1

England and Wales

(1)

This rule applies where an applicant wants the court to make an order to which rule 47.4(a) refers.

(2)

As well as complying with rule 47.6 (Application for order: general rules), the application must, in every case—

(a)

specify the offence under investigation (and see paragraph (3)(a));

(b)

describe the material sought;

(c)

identify the respondent;

(d)

specify the premises on which the material is believed to be, or explain why it is not reasonably practicable to do so;

(e)

explain the grounds for believing that the material is on the premises specified, or (if applicable) on unspecified premises of the respondent;

(f)

specify the set of access conditions on which the applicant relies (and see paragraphs (3) and (4)); and

(g)

propose—

(i)

the terms of the order, and

(ii)

the period within which it should take effect.

(3)

Where the applicant relies on paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984^f1 (‘the first set of access conditions’: general power to gain access to special procedure material), the application must—

(a)

specify the indictable offence under investigation;

(b)

explain the grounds for believing that the offence has been committed;

(c)

explain the grounds for believing that the material sought—

(i)

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

(ii)

is likely to be admissible evidence at trial for the offence under investigation, and

(iii)

does not consist of or include items subject to legal privilege or excluded material;

(d)

explain what other methods of obtaining the material—

(i)

have been tried without success, or

(ii)

have not been tried because they appeared bound to fail; and

(e)

explain why it is in the public interest for the respondent to produce the material, having regard to—

(i)

the benefit likely to accrue to the investigation if the material is obtained, and

(ii)

the circumstances under which the respondent holds the material.

(4)

Where the applicant relies on paragraph 3 of Schedule 1 to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984^f2 (‘the second set of access conditions’: use of search warrant power to gain access to excluded or special procedure material), the application must—

(a)

state the legislation under which a search warrant could have been issued, had the material sought not been excluded or special procedure material (in this paragraph, described as ‘the main search power’);

(b)

include or attach the terms of the main search power;

(c)

explain how the circumstances would have satisfied any criteria prescribed by the main search power for the issue of a search warrant; and

(d)

explain why the issue of such a search warrant would have been appropriate.

[Note. See paragraphs 1 to 4 of Schedule 1 to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984^f3. The applicant for an order must be a constable. Sections 10, 11 and 14 of the 1984 Act^f4 define ‘items subject to legal privilege’, ‘excluded material’ and ‘special procedure material’. The period within which an order takes effect must be specified in the order and, unless the court considers a longer period appropriate, must be 7 days from the date of the order.

See also the code of practice for searches of premises by police officers and the seizure of property found by police officers on persons or premises issued under section 66 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984^f5.]

Annotations

Commencement

I1: Rule 47.10 in force at 6.10.2025, see Preamble

Footnotes

f1: 1984 c. 60; paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 was amended by sections 111 and 113 of, and paragraph 43 of Schedule 7 to, the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (c. 15).
f2: 1984 c. 60; paragraph 3 of Schedule 1 was amended by section 113 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (c. 15).
f3: 1984 c. 60; paragraphs 1 and 4 of Schedule 1 were amended by section 65 of, and paragraph 6 of Schedule 4 to, the Courts Act 2003 (c. 39).
f4: 1984 c. 60; section 14 was amended by section 1177 of, and paragraph 193 of Schedule 1 to, the Corporation Tax Act 2010 (c. 4).
f5: 1984 c. 60; section 66 was amended by section 57 of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 (c. 43), sections 110 and 174 of, and Schedule 17 to, the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (c. 15) and section 115 of, and paragraph 21 of Schedule 9 to, the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (c. 9).

Notes on Part 47

Textual amendments

F1: Words in Pt. 47 Table of Contents omitted (6.4.2026) by virtue of The Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2026 (S.I. 2026/47), rules 3, 10(c)(i)