859 Anonymity of authorised officers in relation to certain matters

Summary

This section provides for anonymity for Revenue officers involved in any body (namely, the Criminal Assets Bureau) established to identify the assets of persons which derive or are suspected to derive, directly or indirectly, from criminal activity and to deprive or deny such persons of the assets or the benefit of such assets. In particular, the section secures that, when excising his/her powers and duties on behalf of such a body, a Revenue official is not required to identity himself or herself and is to exercise or perform written duties in the name of the body and not in his/her own name.

Details

Definitions

(1) An “authorised officer” is an officer of the Revenue Commissioners nominated by them to be a member of the staff of the body.

The meaning of “the body” is linked back to the definition of that term in section 58 (that is, it is a body established by or under statute or by the Government, the purpose or one of the principal purposes of which is the identification of the assets of persons which derive or are suspected to derive, directly or indirectly, from criminal activity, the taking of appropriate action under the law to deprive or to deny those persons of the assets or the benefit of such assets, in whole or in part, as may be appropriate, and the pursuit of any investigation or the doing of any other preparatory work in relation to any proceedings arising from the those purposes). The Criminal Assets Bureau has been established for these purposes under the Criminal Assets Bureau Act, 1996.

The term “proceedings” includes any hearing before the Appeal Commissioners.

The term “the Revenue Acts” covers the legislation governing customs and excise duties, income tax, corporation tax, capital gains tax, value-added tax, capital acquisitions tax, stamp duty, residential property tax, vehicle registration tax and local property tax.

Protection of identity of authorised officers

(2) Notwithstanding any requirements made by or under any enactment or any other requirement in administrative and operational procedures, including internal procedures, all reasonable care is to be taken to ensure that the identity of an authorised officer is not to be revealed.

(3) Without prejudice to the generality of the above, the section provides for the following specific anonymity rules for authorised officers acting in pursuance of the functions of the Criminal Assets Bureau —

• when exercising his/her powers or duties under the Revenue Acts, an authorised officer is not to be required to show any identification (authorisations or warrants of appointment) and is to be accompanied by a member of the Garda Síochána who is to identify himself or herself as such and confirm that he/she is accompanied by an authorised officer;
• where an authorised officer exercises or performs in writing any powers or duties under the Revenue Acts or any other enactment relating to Revenue, that exercise or performance is to be done in the name of the Criminal Assets Bureau and not in the name of the individual authorised officer involved;
• in any proceedings arising out of the exercise or performance of his/her duties under the Revenue Acts documents are not to reveal the identity of any authorised officer, and the identity of the authorised officer other than as an authorised officer is not to be revealed to anyone other than the judge or Appeal Commissioner in charge of the proceedings;
• where an authorised officer is to give evidence in any proceedings, that evidence is to be given in the hearing but not in the sight of any person where the judge or Appeal Commissioner is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds in the public interest for the evidence to be so given.

Relevant Date: Finance Act 2021