Rosemary
The "unlimited fine" stems from the fact that cases brought under the DPA
can be tried in the Magistrates Court (fine limit £5,000) or in more serious
cases a higher court where the fine would be at the judge's discretion (ie
potentially unlimited).
The only reference in the DPA I can find to seizure of equipment is in
Schedule 9 which deals with the Commissioner's Powers of Entry and
Inspection. Para 1(3) states that a warrant would "authorise the
Commissioner or any of his officers or staff to enter the premises...and to
inspect and seize any documents or other material found there which may be
such evidence...". Presumably "other material" would include the equipment
used to process personal data, although Schedule 9 does not mention
forfeiture, erasure or destruction.
Hope this helps
Stuart Lynch
Stuart Lynch Consulting
Training/Consultancy in
Privacy/Information Protection
01704 870365
mailto:[log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection issues
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of rosepattenden
Sent: 01 February 2002 19:41
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Article about Enforcement of DPA
The New Law Journal Feb 1 2002 pp. 147-148 contains a well written
introductory article on "Enforcement of the Data Protection Act 1998:
compliance at all costs?" by Graeme Maguire and Peter Church of Linklaters
I have one query arising from the article: The authors state that failure to
comply with an eofrcement notice is potentially punishable by an unlimited
fine and "the courts may also order that the equipment used to process the
personal data should be forfeited, erased or destroyed". Is the fine
unlimited because s.47(1) does not mention any punishment or is this
mentioned elsewhere in the Act? Also, I have not found the statutory basis
of the right to order equpment be forfeited, erased or destroyed.
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