SCHEDULES
SCHEDULE 3Border security
PART 1Powers
8Searches
1
An examining officer who questions a person under paragraph 1 may—
a
search the person;
b
search anything on a ship or aircraft that the person has with them or which belongs to them;
c
search anything which the person has with them or which belongs to them and which the officer reasonably believes has been, or is about to be, on a ship or aircraft;
d
search a ship or aircraft for anything falling within paragraph (b);
e
search a vehicle which is on a ship or aircraft;
f
search a vehicle which the officer reasonably believes has been, or is about to be, on a ship or aircraft.
2
Where an examining officer questions a person in the border area under paragraph 1 the officer may (in addition to the matters specified in sub-paragraph (1))—
a
search a vehicle;
b
search anything in or on a vehicle;
c
search anything which the officer reasonably believes has been, or is about to be, in or on a vehicle.
3
4
A search of a person under this paragraph—
a
must be carried out by somebody of the same sex;
b
does not extend to the carrying out of an intimate search.
5
A strip search of a person may not be carried out under this paragraph unless—
a
the person is detained under paragraph 4,
b
the examining officer has reasonable grounds to suspect that the person is concealing something which may be evidence that the person is or has been engaged in hostile activity, and
c
the search is authorised by a senior officer who has not been directly involved in the questioning of the person.
6
“Senior officer” means—
a
where the examining officer is a constable, a constable of a higher rank than the examining officer,
b
where the examining officer is an immigration officer, an immigration officer of a higher grade than the examining officer, and
c
where the examining officer is a customs officer, a customs officer of a higher grade than the examining officer.
7
In this paragraph—
“intimate search” means a search which consists of a physical examination of a person’s body orifices other than the mouth;
“strip search” means a search which is not an intimate search but involves the removal of an article of clothing which—
- a
is being worn wholly or partly on the trunk, and
- b
is being so worn either next to the skin or next to an article of underwear.
- a