Overturned warrant does not guarantee return of documents

HMRC obtained search warrants against individuals whom it suspected of being involved in tax fraud. After the search had taken place the company challenged the validity of the warrants in judicial review proceedings and the court upheld the challenge.

However HMRC then applied for permission under the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 s 59 to retain the documents it had obtained under the unlawful search.

Mr Justice Fox in the Administrative Court said he was ‘satisfied that there has been no bad faith nor conduct of a sufficiently serious or pervasive a kind (or as it sometimes put “egregious” conduct) as to justify the court making a rare order precluding an application by HMRC under s 59 CJPA’. Here HMRC’s failures were the result of an ‘innocent error’ and could not ‘fairly be characterised as egregious’.

Indeed this was not a...