S.I. No. 355/1995 - European Communities (Customs Appeals) Regulations, 1995.

S.I. No. 355 of 1995.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (CUSTOMS APPEALS) REGULATIONS, 1995.

I, RUAIRÍ QUINN, Minister for Finance, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), as amended, and for the purposes of giving effect to Title VIII of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2913/92 of 12 October 1992,⁽¹⁾ hereby make the following Regulations:

⁽¹⁾O.J. No. L302, 19.10.1992, p. 1.

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Customs Appeals) Regulations, 1995.

2. These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of January, 1996.

3. (1) In these Regulations—

"Appeal Commissioners" has the meaning assigned to it by section 156 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 ;

"appellant" means a person who appeals to the Commissioners or to the Appeal Commissioners, as the case may be, under Regulation 4 or 5 of these Regulations;

"the Commissioners" means the Revenue Commissioners;

"Community Customs Code" means the Community Customs Code established by Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2913/92 of 12 October 1992;

"customs rules", "person", "import duties", "export duties," "remission", "repayment," "debtor", "security" and cognate expressions have the same meaning as they have in the Community Customs Code;

"decision" means any official Act of the Commissioners or an officer of the Commissioners pertaining to Community customs rules and giving a ruling on a particular case, being an act having legal effects on one or more specific or identifiable persons; this term covers inter alia a binding information within the meaning of Article 12 of the Community Customs Code; it does not include a determination by the Commissioners under Regulation 4 of these Regulations.

(2) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and is also used in the Community Customs Code has, unless the contrary intention appears, the same meaning in these Regulations as it has in the Community Customs Code.

4. (1) In this Regulation "appeal" means an appeal under this Regulation.

(2) Any person who has paid or is liable to pay import duty or export duty or who has complied with or is required to comply with a decision notified in writing and is, or was, required to pay an amount of such duty or is otherwise bound by such decision may, in accordance with this Regulation, appeal to the Commissioners against the liability or the decision or the amount of such duty or the implementation of the decision.

(3) Any person who has claimed and has either been refused or has received a remission or repayment of import duty or export duty may appeal to the Commissioners against the decision concerned in respect of the refusal of or the amount of such repayment or the refusal of or the extent of such remission.

(4) Any person who has requested the Commissioners to give a decision relating to the application of customs legislation and has not obtained, in accordance with the provisions of the Community Customs Code, a ruling on that request shall be entitled to appeal to the commissioners in accordance with this Regulation.

(5) An appeal shall be by notice in writing and the notice shall specify in detail the grounds of the appeal.

(6) A notice of appeal shall be lodged with the Commissioners within the period of 30 days from the date of—

( a ) the payment by the person of an amount of the import duty or export duty concerned, or

( b ) the notification of the person by the Commissioners of a decision in accordance with Article 6 (2) of the Community Customs Code or of the person being called upon by them to pay an amount of import duty or export duty or to comply with a decision, or

(c) the remission or repayment of an amount of import duty or export duty, or

(d) the notification of the person by the Commissioners of a refusal of remission or repayment by them of import duty or export duty,

or within such longer period as the Commissioners may allow.

(7) An appeal shall, subject to the provisions of Community legislation, be determined by the Commissioners and any such determination shall, subject to the provisions of Community legislation and paragraph (10) of this Regulation, be made within the period of 30 days from the lodgment of the notice of appeal with the Commissioners. However, that period may be exceeded where the Commissioners are unable to comply with it. In that case the Commissioners shall so inform the appellant before the expiry of the period, stating the reasons for exceeding it and indicating the further reasonable period of time which they consider necessary for the determination of the appeal.

(8) (a) The Commissioners may designate one or more of their officers ("designated officers") for the purposes of this Regulation and a designated officer may perform the functions of the Commissioners under this Regulation.

(b) Not more than one designated officer shall determine any particular appeal under this Regulation.

(c) A designated officer shall not determine an appeal against a decision made by that officer.

(9) The Commissioners shall notify the appellant concerned, by notice in writing served on the appellant, of their determination of an appeal and the reasons for their determination.

(10) Where a notice of appeal has been lodged with the Commissioners but the appeal has not been determined within the period referred to in paragraph (7) of this Regulation, there shall, subject to Community legislation, be deemed to have been a determination by the Commissioners on the last day of the said period that the appeal was not upheld but such deeming shall cease to have effect if a determination is subsequently made by the Commissioners before a determination is made by the Appeal Commissioners under Regulation 5 of these Regulations in respect of the matter concerned.

5. (1) In this Regulation "appeal" means an appeal under this Regulation.

(2) A person who is aggrieved by a determination of the Commissioners under Regulation 4 of these Regulations may, in accordance with the provisions of this Regulation, appeal to the Appeal Commissioners against the determination and the appeal shall be heard and determined by the Appeal Commissioners whose determination shall, subject to the provisions of Community legislation, be final and conclusive unless a case is required to be stated in relation to it for the opinion of the High Court on a point of law.

(3) An appeal shall be by notice in writing and the notice shall specify in detail the grounds of the appeal.

(4) A notice of appeal shall be lodged with the Commissioners within 30 days of the appellant's being notified of the determination concerned.

(5) Subject to the provisions of this Regulation, the provisions of Part XXVI (as amended), other than sections 429 and 430 and (in so far as it relates to those sections) section 431, of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , shall, with any necessary modifications, apply in relation to appeals as they apply in relation to appeals under that Part.

(6) (a) Subject to paragraph (c) of this Regulation, where a notice or other document which is required or authorised by these Regulations to be served falls to be served on a body corporate, the notice shall be served on the secretary or other officer of the body corporate.

(b) Any notice or other document which is required or authorised by these Regulations to be served by the Commissioners may be served by post and a notice of appeal under Regulation 4 or 5 of these Regulations may be lodged by post and shall be addressed to the Revenue Commissioners, Dublin Castle, Dublin, 2.

(c) Any notice or other document which is required or authorised by these Regulations to be served by the Commissioners on an appellant may be served by post on the solicitor or other agent of the appellant and a notice so served shall be deemed to have been served on the appellant unless the appellant proves to the satisfaction of the Appeal Commissioners that he or she had, before the notice or other document was served, withdrawn the authority of the solicitor or other agent to act on his or her behalf.

(7) Prima facie evidence of any notice served under these Regulations by the Commissioners or an officer of the Commissioners may be given in any proceedings by the production by an officer of the Commissioners of a document purporting to be a copy of the notice and it shall not be necessary to prove the official position of the person by whom the notice purports to be given or, if it is signed, the signature, or that the person signing and giving it was authorised so to do.

6. (1) The lodgment of a notice of appeal under Regulation 4 or 5 of these Regulations shall not, pending the determination of the appeal by the Commissioners or, as the case may be, the Appeal Commissioners, cause the implementation of the decision to which the appeal relates to be suspended.

(2) The Commissioners shall, however, suspend the implementation of such a decision in whole or in part where they have good reason to believe that the decision is inconsistent with Community customs legislation or that irreparable loss would be likely to be caused to the person concerned.

(3) Where the decision concerned causes import duties or export duties to be charged, the suspension of implementation of the decision shall be subject to the existence or provision, within the meaning of Title VII of the Community Customs Code, of a security. However, such security need not be required by the Commissioners where its requirement would be likely, owing to the debtor's circumstances, to cause serious economic or social difficulties to him or her.

7. Where, liability to import duty or export duty or compliance with a decision is the subject of criminal proceedings or a decision is pending on whether to initiate criminal proceedings in respect of such liability or compliance, then, an appeal may not be brought under Regulation 4 or 5 of these Regulations against such liability or compliance or the amount of such import duty or export duty or any repayment or remission connected with or sought in respect of such liability until any such criminal proceedings are determined or a decision is duly taken not to initiate criminal proceedings.

GIVEN under the Official Seal, this 19th day of December, 1995.

RUAIRÍ QUINN,

Minister for Finance.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

The purpose of these Regulations is to implement appeals provisions contained in title VIII of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2913/92 of 12 October 1992.