Commentary on provisions of Act Section17: Investigatory powers etc
As the law currently stands the 1992 Act provides that the Certification Officer can act on a complaint from a trade union member about a range of alleged breaches of statutory provisions. On such an application being made to him the Certification can "make such enquiries as he sees fit" but the Certification Officer has no specific investigatory powers. The exception to this is that the Certification Officer has investigatory powers in relation to the investigation of financial affairs which allows him to require the productions of document, appoint an inspector to investigate etc (see section 37A to 37E of the 1992 Act). Similar investigative powers are also due to be made available to the Certification Officer in respect of failures to comply with duties relating to the register of members (see new sections 24ZH to 24ZK of the 1992 Act which are inserted, with effect from a date to be appointed, by section 42 of the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014).
	An investigation in relation to financial affairs or breaches of duties in relation to the register of members can also be commenced by the Certification Officer without the need for an application or complaint to be made by a trade union member. This is not the currently the case for other areas where the Certification Officer may make determinations about breaches.
	The purpose of the changes made by section 15 and the associated Schedules is twofold. Firstly, it will grant the Certification Officer specific investigatory powers in respect of a number of statutory requirements where they are not currently available. Secondly, it will make a series of changes to the Certification Officer's enforcement powers so that action can be taken without the need for an application or complaint from a member to be received first. The Certification Officer will therefore be able to investigate and take enforcement action proactively in a number of areas where this is not currently possible. For example the Certification Officer could act upon information or concerns the Certification Officer had received from a third party or on the Certification Officer's own initiative.
	This section inserts a new section 256C into the 1992 Act. This new section gives effect to new Schedule A3, which is inserted into the 1992 Act by subsection (2), and is contained in Schedule 1 to the Act Subsection (3) introduces Schedule 2, which makes amendments to the 1992 Act to enable the Certification Officer to exercise certain powers without an application or complaint being made.