Finance Act, 1929

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Removal and detention of documents.

31.—(1) Whenever an officer of customs and excise is authorised by any enactment relating to a duty of customs or a duty of excise and contained in a British Statute or any Act of the Oireachtas passed before or after this Act or by any regulation heretofore made or hereafter to be made under any such enactment to demand the production of or to inspect or examine any book, account, letter, voucher, or other document such officer shall if he has reasonable ground for suspecting fraud in connection with any entry in or omission from such document or in connection with any transaction to which such document refers also be entitled to remove and detain such document.

(2) Whenever an officer of customs and excise removes a document under this section he shall, on demand made by the person from whom he obtained such document at any time while such document is detained under this section, either (at the election of such officer) furnish to such person a copy of such document or allow such person to inspect and take a copy of such document.

(3) Any person who resists or obstructs an officer of customs and excise in the exercise of any of the powers conferred on him by this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a penalty of fifty pounds and such penalty shall be a customs penalty where the officer in respect of whom the offence was committed was exercising the said powers for the purposes of the Customs Acts and shall be an excise penalty where such officer was exercising such powers for the purposes of any British Statute or Act of the Oireachtas relating to duties of excise and the management of those duties.