Commentary on Sections and Schedules Witnesses and documents Section 39: Offences
181.Subsection (1) of this section makes it a criminal offence for a person to whom a notice under section 38(1) has been given to:
182.Subsection (1) is subject to the various grounds on which a person may decline to answer a question or produce a document (sections 34(3) and 37(5), (6), (8) and (9)).
183.If a person charged with an offence under subsection (1)(a), (b) or (c) can adduce evidence of a reasonable excuse for the refusal or failure, then it is for the prosecution to prove that the person did not have such an excuse.
184.The penalty in the case of a person found guilty of an offence under subsection (1) is a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale (currently £5,000) or of imprisonment for up to 51 weeks, or both. (Under transitional provisions in paragraph 21 of Schedule 11 the maximum term of imprisonment will be three months until section 281(5) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 is brought into force.) Offences are triable summarily.
185.Certain senior officers of a body corporate (e.g. a company) are personally liable (in addition to the body corporate itself) to prosecution where they have consented to or connived at the commission of an offence or the offence is attributable to their neglect.