Rule 47.9 Application to punish for contempt of courtI1

England and Wales

(1)

This rule applies where a person is accused of disobeying—

(a)

a production order made under paragraph 4 of Schedule 1 to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984;

(b)

a production etc. order made under paragraph 5 of Schedule 5 to the Terrorism Act 2000;

(c)

an explanation order made under paragraph 13 of that Schedule;

(d)

an account monitoring order made under paragraph 2 of Schedule 6A to that Act;

(e)

a production order made under section 345 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 or article 6 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (External Investigations) Order 2014;

(f)

an account monitoring order made under section 370 of the 2002 Act or article 29 of the 2014 Order;

(g)

a production order made under section 157 of the Extradition Act 2003;

(h)

a production order made under paragraph 3 or 4 of Schedule 2 to the National Security Act 2023; or

(i)

an account monitoring order made under paragraph 1 of Schedule 5 to the National Security Act 2023.

(2)

An applicant who wants the court to exercise its power to punish that person for contempt of court must comply with the rules in Part 48 (Contempt of court).

[Note. The Crown Court has power to punish for contempt of court a person who disobeys its order. See paragraphs 10(1) and 13(5) of Schedule 5, and paragraph 6(1) of Schedule 6A, to the Terrorism Act 2000; sections 351(7) and 375(6) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and articles 12(6) and 34(5) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (External Investigations) Order 2014; paragraph 8 of Schedule 2 and paragraph 5 of Schedule 5 to the National Security Act 2023; and section 45 of the Senior Courts Act 1981^f1.

A Circuit judge has power to punish a person who disobeys a production order under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 as if that were a contempt of the Crown Court: see paragraph 15 of Schedule 1 to the Act^f2.

Disobedience to an explanation order, to a disclosure order or to a customer information order under the Terrorism Act 2000 is an offence: see paragraph 14 of Schedule 5, paragraph 11 of Schedule 5A and paragraph 1(3) of Schedule 6, to the Act.

Disobedience to a disclosure order or to a customer information order under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 or under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (External Investigations) Order 2014 is an offence: see sections 359 and 366 of the Act and articles 18 and 25 of the Order. Under section 342 of the Act^f3 and under article 5 of the Order, subject to the exceptions for which those provide it is an offence to make a disclosure likely to prejudice an investigation or to interfere with documents relevant to it.

If a person fails to comply with a further information order under the Terrorism Act 2000 or under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 the magistrates’ court may order that person to pay an amount not exceeding £5,000, which order may be enforced as if the sum due had been adjudged to be paid by a conviction: see section 22B(8), (9) of the Terrorism Act 2000^f4 and section 339ZH((8), (9) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002^f5.

Disobedience to an explanation order, to a disclosure order or to a customer information order under the National Security Act 2003 is an offence: see paragraph 11 of Schedule 2, paragraph 7 of Schedule 3 and paragraph 6 of Schedule 4 to the Act.]

Annotations

Commencement

I1: Rule 47.9 in force at 6.10.2025, see Preamble

Footnotes

f1: 1981 c. 54. The Act’s title was amended by section 59(5) of, and paragraph 1 of Schedule 11 to, the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (c. 4).
f2: 1984 c. 60; paragraph 15 of Schedule 1 was amended by section 65 of, and paragraph 6 of Schedule 4 to, the Courts Act 2003 (c. 39).
f3: 2002 c. 29; section 342 was amended by section 77 of, and paragraphs 1 and 2 of Schedule 10 to, the Serious Crime Act 2007 (c. 27), regulation 3 of, and paragraphs 1 and 8 of Schedule 2 to, S.I. 2007/3398 and section 169 of, and paragraphs 1 and 3 of Schedule 19 to, the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 (c. 25).
f4: 2000 c. 11; section 22B was inserted by section 37 of the Criminal Finances Act 2017 (c. 22).
f5: 2002 c. 29; section 339ZH was inserted by section 12 of the Criminal Finances Act 2017 (c. 22).

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)