The Act Commentary on Sections Part 5 - Miscellaneous criminal justice provisions Section 148:  Security in tribunal buildings
666.Section 148 provides for Part 4 of the Courts Act 2003 to be applied in respect of tribunal buildings as it does for courts. Part 4 of the Courts Act 2003 details the powers of court security officers and the circumstances in which they may exercise them lawfully. It also sets out grounds for the surrender, seizure and retention of certain articles carried by persons entering court buildings.
667.Subsection (1) gives the Lord Chancellor power, by order subject to the affirmative resolution procedure, to provide for the designation of security officers in tribunal buildings. The order may apply the provisions in Part 4 of the Courts Act 2003 with any necessary modifications. Part 4 includes the powers in new section 55A of that Act (inserted by section 146) which provides different procedure for the retention of all knives that have been surrendered to or seized by a court security officer. Under the new section 55A of the Courts Act 2003 knives must be retained, unless returned or disposed of in accordance with regulations under sections 55A(5) or 56.
668.The definition of “tribunal buildings” and other definitions are set out in subsection (3). “Tribunal buildings” includes buildings used by the following tribunals: the First-tier Tribunal, the Upper Tribunal, employment tribunals, the Employment Appeal Tribunal, and the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal. Subsection (3) also gives the Lord Chancellor power to designate by order further tribunals whose buildings are to be included in the definition of “tribunal buildings”. This section extends to England and Wales only; therefore the provision of security arrangements under section 148 can only apply to UK-wide tribunals listed in section 39(1) of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 (the 2007 Act) when they are sitting in England and Wales.