Commentary on Sections Gathering information Section 78: Warrants
258.This section sets out the conditions in which a justice of the peace (sheriff in Scotland) can issue a warrant. A justice of the peace can issue a warrant if satisfied by information given on oath by, or on behalf of, the Regulator that there are reasonable grounds for believing:
	there are documents which have been requested under section 72 or section 75, which have not been provided or if the documents were requested, they would either not be produced, would be removed from the premises, hidden, tampered with or destroyed; or
	that a person has committed an offence or misused the assets of an occupational pension scheme or is liable to civil penalties under section 10 of the Pensions Act 1995 (civil penalties) or to be prohibited from being a trustee of an occupational scheme and that there are documents relating to that matter whose production could be required under section 72 or 75.
259.An inspector with a warrant can take or copy these documents or require named individuals to state where these documents can be found. When executing a warrant a named inspector can be accompanied by anyone he feels necessary. A warrant has a time span of one month from when it was issued.
260.Subsections (8) and (9) provide that any document taken can be retained if it is going to be used in proceedings against an individual until the end of the proceedings, or for a period of 12 months. This 12 month period can be extended by another 12 months if the Regulator feels it necessary.