Section 63 — Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007: Enforcement agents

Enforcement agents 63 1 This section and section 64 apply for the purposes of Schedule 12.

2 An individual may act as an enforcement agent only if one of these applies—

a he acts under a certificate under section 64;

b he is exempt;

c he acts in the presence and under the direction of a person to whom paragraph (a) or (b) applies.

3 An individual is exempt if he acts in the course of his duty as one of these—

a a constable;

b an officer of Revenue and Customs;

ba a person authorised to use the procedure in Schedule 12 by the Welsh Revenue Authority (or by a person to whom the Welsh Revenue Authority has delegated the function of authorising the use of the procedure);

c a person appointed under section 2(1) of the Courts Act 2003 (c. 39) (court officers and staff).

4 An individual is exempt if he acts in the course of his duty as an officer of a government department.

5 For the purposes of an enforcement power conferred by a warrant, an individual is exempt if in relation to the warrant he is a civilian enforcement officer, as defined in section 125A of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 (c. 43).

6 A person is guilty of an offence if, knowingly or recklessly, he purports to act as an enforcement agent without being authorised to do so by subsection (2).

7 A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.