Section 22 Retention.C10 C29 C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C11 C12

England and Wales

Subject to subsection (4) below, anything which has been seized by a constable or taken away by a constable following a requirement made by virtue of section 19 or 20 above may be retained so long as is necessary in all the circumstances.

(2)

Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) above—

C21(a)

anything seized for the purposes of a criminal investigation may be retained, except as provided by subsection (4) below—

(i)

for use as evidence at a trial for an offence; or

(ii)

for forensic examination or for investigation in connection with an offence; and

(b)

anything may be retained in order to establish its lawful owner, where there are reasonable grounds for believing that it has been obtained in consequence of the commission of an offence.

C22(3)

Nothing seized on the ground that it may be used—

(a)

to cause physical injury to any person;

(b)

to damage property;

(c)

to interfere with evidence; or

(d)

to assist in escape from police detention or lawful custody,

may be retained when the person from whom it was seized is no longer in police detention or the custody of a court or is in the custody of a court but has been released on bail.

(4)

Nothing may be retained for either of the purposes mentioned in subsection (2)(a) above if a photograph or copy would be sufficient for that purpose.

(5)

Nothing in this section affects any power of a court to make an order under section 1 of the M1Police (Property) Act 1897.

F1(6)

This section also applies to anything retained by the police under section 28H(5) of the M2Immigration Act 1971.

C23 C24 C25 C26 C27 C28(F27)

The reference in subsection (1) to anything seized by a constable includes anything seized by a person authorised under section 16(2) to accompany a constable executing a warrant.

Annotations

Textual amendments

F1: S. 22(6) inserted (14.2.2000) by 1999 c. 33, s. 169(1), Sch. 14 para. 80(3); S.I. 2000/168, art. 2, Sch.
F2: S. 22(7) inserted (20.1.2004) by Criminal Justice Act 2003 (c. 44), ss. 12, 336, Sch. 1 para. 4; S.I. 2004/81, art. 2(1)(2)(a)

Marginal citations

M1: 1897 c. 30.
M2: 1971 c. 77.

Modifications

C1

S. 22 modified (1.9.2001) by S.I. 1996/716, art. 17D (as inserted (1.9.2001) by S.I. 2001/2563, art. 2)

C2

S. 22 applied (1.4.2003) by 2001 c. 16, ss. 57(1)(a)(4), 138; S.I. 2003/708, art. 2(a)

C3

S. 22 modified (1.9.2001) by 2001 c. 17, s. 37, Sch. 5 Pt. I para. 6(5); S.I. 2001/2161, art. 2 (subject to art. 3)

S. 22 modified (2.12.2002) by Police Reform Act 2002 (c. 30), s. 38, Sch. 4 Pt. 2 para. 16(i); S.I. 2002/2750, art. 2(a)(ii)(d)

S. 22 modified (2.12.2002) by Police Reform Act 2002 (c. 30), s. 38, Sch. 4 Pt. 2 para. 17(f); S.I. 2002/2750, art. 2(a)(ii)(d)

S. 22 modified (2.12.2002) by Police Reform Act 2002 (c. 30), s. 38, Sch. 4 Pt. 2 para. 18(f); S.I. 2002/2750, art. 2(a)(ii)(d)

S. 22 modified (2.12.2002) by Police Reform Act 2002 (c. 30), s. 38, Sch. 4 Pt. 2 para. 19(e); S.I. 2002/2750, art. 2(a)(ii)(d)

C4

S. 22: power to apply (with modifications) conferred (24.2.2003) by Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (c. 29), ss. 355(1)(2)(3)(d), 458; S.I. 2003/120, art. 2, Sch. (subject to transitional provisions and savings in arts. 3-7 (as amended by S.I. 2003/333, art. 14 which in turn is amended by S.I. 2003/531, arts. 3, 4))

C5

S. 22 applied (with modifications) (24.2.2003) by The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (Application of Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989) Order 2003 (S.I. 2003/174), arts. 5, 10, Sch. 1

C6

S. 22 modified by 2002 c. 30, Sch. 4 para. 2B(e) (as inserted (13.5.2014) by Anti Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 (c. 12), s. 185(1), Sch. 10 para. 4 (with ss. 21, 33, 42, 58, 75, 93); S.I. 2014/949, art. 3, Sch. para. 22)

C7

S. 22 applied (with modifications) (1.6.2015) by The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (Application of Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984) Order 2015 (S.I. 2015/759), arts. 1(1), 5 (as amended: (31.1.2018 for specified purposes, 16.4.2018 in so far as not already in force) by S.I. 2017/1222, art. 1(2)(3), 2(5); (26.4.2024) by S.I. 2024/426, arts. 1(2), 2(5); and (6.11.2024) by S.I. 2024/1029, arts. 1(2), 2(2))

C8

Ss. 21, 22 applied by 1994 c. 33, s. 139(10A)(b) (as inserted (31.1.2017 for specified purposes, 1.3.2018 in so far as not already in force) by Policing and Crime Act 2017 (c. 3), s. 183(1)(5)(e), Sch. 17 para. 4(9); S.I. 2018/227, art. 2(g))

C9

S. 22 applied (with modifications) (8.3.2018) by The United Nations (International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals) Order 2018 (S.I. 2018/187), arts. 1(1), 21(4) (with art. 3)

C10

Pt. 2 applied (8.3.2018) by The United Nations (International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals) Order 2018 (S.I. 2018/187), arts. 1(1), 16(1) (with art. 3)

C11

S. 22 applied (with modifications) (1.4.2026) by Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Act 2025 (c. 28), ss. 7,109(1), Sch. 1 (with ss. 72, 105); S.I. 2026/371, reg. 2(a)

C12

S. 22 applied in part (with modifications) (7.4.2026) by The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (Application to Enforcement Officers) Regulations 2026 (S.I. 2026/303), regs. 1(1), 3, 4(m), Sch. paras. 1-10, 18

C13

Ss. 8, 9, 15, 16, 17(1)(b)(2) (4), 18-20, 21, 22(1)-(4), 28, 29, 30(1)-(4)(a)(5)-(11), 31, 32(1)-(9), 34(1)-(5), 35, 36, 37, 39, 40-44, 50, 51(d), 52, 54, 55, 64(1)-(4)(5)(6), Sch. 1 applied (with modifications) by S.I. 1985/1800, arts. 3-11, Schs. 1, 2

C14