Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986

[F135A Power of Board to require information.S

(1)The Board may, for the purpose of determining whether—

(a)a solicitor or any employee of him or of his firm may be committing a criminal offence in connection with criminal legal assistance; or

(b)a solicitor may be seeking, in relation to criminal legal assistance, to recover from the Fund money to which he is not entitled, as, for example, by performing unnecessary work; or

(c)a registered firm or solicitor is or may not be complying with the code,

require any solicitor or firm to produce such information and documents relating wholly or partly to the provision of criminal legal assistance as it may specify, at such time and place as it may specify.

[F2(1A)The Board may, for the purpose of determining whether—

(a)a solicitor, an employee of the solicitor or an employee of the solicitor's firm may be committing a criminal offence in connection with children's legal assistance,

(b)a solicitor may be seeking, in relation to children's legal assistance, to recover from the Fund money to which the solicitor is not entitled, as, for example, by performing unnecessary work, or

(c)a solicitor or firm whose name appears on the register maintained under section 28M(1) is or may not be complying with the code of practice under section 28N for the time being in force,

require the solicitor or firm to produce such information and documents relating wholly or partly to the provision of children's legal assistance as it may specify, at such time and place as it may specify.]

(2)If it appears to the Board that there is good reason to do so, it may authorise any of its officers to require any solicitor or firm to produce forthwith any such information or documents as are mentioned in subsection (1) [F3or (1A)] above.

(3)An officer of the Board acting under subsection (2) above shall, if requested to do so, produce evidence of his authorisation by the Board.

(4)The power under this section to require production of information and documents includes power—

(a)to require any person, who is a present or past partner or employee of any such solicitor or firm and who appears to the Board or one of its officers to have any information or documents, to produce them;

(b)if any documents are produced—

(i)to take copies of them or extracts from them; and

(ii)to require the person producing them, or any other person who is a present or past partner or employee of the solicitor or firm in question, to provide an explanation of them;

(c)if any document or information is held other than in legible form, to require the production of a copy of it in legible form; and

(d)if 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.

(5)Where any person claims a lien over any documents required to be produced under this section the production is without prejudice to the lien.

(6)Any person who is required under this section to produce information or documents shall, notwithstanding any duty of confidentiality, comply with that requirement; and if he fails to comply he shall be guilty of an offence and liable—

(a)on conviction on indictment, to a fine; and

(b)on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum.

(7)Where a person is charged with an offence under subsection (6) above in respect of a requirement to produce documents, it shall be a defence for him 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)No information or documents obtained by the Board by virtue of this section or section 35B of this Act shall be used by it or by any of its employees for any purpose other than the purposes mentioned in subsection (1) above.

(9)Section 34 of this Act applies in relation to a contravention of subsection (8) above as it applies in relation to a contravention of subsection (1) of that section.]

Textual Amendments

F1Ss. 35A-35C inserted (1.10.1997) by 1997 c. 48, s.53; S.I. 1997/2323, art. 6, Sch.3