Necip, R (on the application of) v Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office

A warrant of arrest under section 83 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 may be issued only to secure attendance for a purpose falling within section 82, principally consideration of a warrant of commitment. Section 83 cannot be used to compel attendance solely to consider other methods of enforcing a confiscation order where commitment is no longer available because the default term has been served. Section 9(5) of the Drug Trafficking Act 1994 preserves other enforcement methods, but does not enlarge the distinct statutory power in section 83.

The claimant was subject to a confiscation order made by the Crown Court under section 2 of the Drug Trafficking Act 1994. He had served the specified term of imprisonment in default of payment and was later required to attend a means inquiry concerning outstanding enforcement. When he failed to attend, the City of London Magistrates' Court issued a warrant under section 83 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980.

The claimant sought judicial review, arguing that section 83 could not support an arrest warrant where the hearing concerned enforcement methods other than commitment. The central issue was whether the statutory power extended to securing attendance for consideration of those other methods.

1. The claim succeeded. The warrant of arrest issued on 19 June 2008 was quashed.
2. Under sections 9(1) of the Drug Trafficking Act 1994 and 140(1) of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000, the confiscation sum was treated, for enforcement purposes, as a fine imposed by a magistrates' court on conviction.
3. Section 83 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 is ancillary to section 82. It permits an arrest warrant to secure attendance for an inquiry under section 82 or at a hearing required by section 82(5).
4. The restrictions in section 82, including the means inquiry and the consideration of alternative enforcement methods under section 82(4A), regulate the circumstances in which a warrant of commitment may be issued. They do not create a general power to compel attendance at a hearing concerned only with other enforcement methods.
5. Section 9(5) of the Drug Trafficking Act 1994 ensures that enforcement methods other than commitment remain available after a default term has been served. It does not give section 83 a wider meaning. General policy considerations could not displace the clear wording of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980.
6. The court agreed with the observation in R v Hereford and Worcester Magistrates' Court Service, ex parte McCrae, reported in The Times, 31 December 1998, although that observation was probably obiter. The court left open whether section 83 could be used where commitment remained available but a means inquiry was unnecessary.

The judgment describes a confiscation order made by the Crown Court on 1 July 2002 and the subsequent issue of a warrant by the City of London Magistrates' Court. The Administrative Court quashed the magistrates' court warrant.