Part 2: Competition Investigations Section 122: Production of information authorised by warrant
This section amends sections 28 and 28A of the Competition Act 1998 which make provision regarding the grant of warrants, and the powers of the CMA when executing such warrants, to enter business premises (section 28) and domestic premises (section 28A) for the purposes of an investigation concerning an infringement of either the Chapter I or Chapter II prohibitions. When executing such warrants, a named CMA officer (who may be accompanied by other CMA officers authorised by the CMA) has the power, among other things, to require the production of information which is held electronically and accessible from the premises.
	Subsection (2) amends section 28(1) of the Competition Act 1998 to expand the powers of the court or CAT to grant a warrant to the CMA on the basis that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that there are documents relevant to an investigation which are accessible from the premises, where the other criteria set out in that section are met.
	Subsection (3) amends the powers set out in section 28(2) of the Competition Act 1998 which a warrant authorises the CMA officers to exercise. Section 28(2)(f) is amended to broaden the power to require the production of information which is stored in electronic form, and which is accessible from the premises. This power now applies to any information stored electronically and accessible from the premises, not only that which the named officer considers relates to a matter relevant to the investigation.
	Subsection (3) further inserts paragraphs (g), (h) and (i) into section 28(2). Paragraph (g) enables CMA officers to operate equipment on the premises for the purpose of producing information stored in electronic form and accessible from the premises which is visible and legible or in a form from which it can readily be produced in a visible and legible form. For example, this power could be used to operate equipment so that electronic information can be transferred securely to CMA devices or where an undertaking or its employees cannot or will not produce the required information in such a form. Paragraph (h) enables the named officer to require assistance from any person on the premises to access information held electronically and accessible from the premises (such as the provision of passwords or encryption keys). Paragraph (i) empowers the CMA to take copies of or seize anything produced which the named officer considers relates to any matter relevant to the investigation.
	Subsections (4), (5) and (6) make amendments which have identical effect in relation to the power at section 28A of the Competition Act 1998 concerning the grant of a warrant, and powers available under that warrant, to enter and inspect domestic premises.
	Subsection (7) makes a consequential amendment to section 30 of the Competition Act 1998 which deals with privileged communications, that is a communication between a professional legal adviser and a client, or one made in connection with, or in contemplation of, legal proceedings and for the purpose of those proceedings. Section 30(1) of the Competition Act 1998 provides that a person shall not be required under Part 1 of that Act, to produce or disclose a privileged communication. Section 122(7) inserts a new section 30(1A) which sets out that nothing in section 28 or section 28A of the Competition Act 1998 authorises an officer to produce, seize, makes copies of or take extracts from any communication which a person could not be required to produce or disclose, as a result of the protection given by section 30(1).