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Legislation & Regulations Governing The Work Of The Waterguard |
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The Immigration Act of 1793 required that the Master or Commander of every Ship or Vessel arriving at any port in the UK, should immediately on his arrival, declare in writing to the Collector and Comptroller, or other Chief Officer of the Customs, whether there were any foreigners on board. It also required the alien to state in writing his name, rank, occupation and description to Customs and to obtain from the Customs Officer a certificate of having made a Declaration, containing the full particulars given.
Clause XXII of the 1793 Act read: 'Every Custom House Officer, Magistrate or Justice as aforesaid shall, with all convenient Diligence, transmit to one of His Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State copies of all such Accounts in Writing ... keeping all ... all such Passports and Certificates, as far as may be, from being made publick.'
By the early 1700s there were 1500 statutes concerning customs! Various attempts had been made from 1660 onwards to 'consolidate' them. But Pitt's Act of 1787 was a consolidation and reform of rates and accounts rather than of procedure. In 1797, a committee of the House of Commons reported that the Customs Acts filled 'six large volumes in folio, without any index, not published, and not to be commonly obtained by purchase'
In 1810 the Lords of the Treasury decided they wanted a 'digest' of Customs laws and the job was given to Nicholas Jickling, who had already devoted nearly 20 years of his life to assimilating and compiling Customs law. In 1815 Jickling produced his digest of 1375 quarto - about A3 size - pages. The laws themselves however were still numerous and confused, often contradictory and sometimes unintelligible. They had in fact been described as the 'intricate and labyrinthine chaos of our Custom House legislation'.
In 1822 James Deacon Hume, one of the officers in London Port's Long Room, had the idea of consolidating and re-enacting all the Customs laws into a systemised series of statutes under a number of headings describing the different procedures Customs carried out, such as management, smuggling, tariff and warehousing. The Treasury agreed and Hume, relieved of his duties in the Long Room, set to work in chambers at Westminster. Hume's Bills were presented to Parliament and received the Royal Assent in July 1825.
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This Act reduced the requirement for the master of a ship, to deliver to the Chief Officer of Customs a list of aliens in his ship, and the third section of the new Act said each alien passenger was now only required to present his passport to the Chief Officer of Customs, and to declare his name, the country of which he was a subject and the date and place of his landing. A copy of the first page of this Act can be seen by selecting the 'button' to the right. |
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The Act stipulates that the construction of the accommodation for Customs Officers, and their watchhouses or boathouses, huts and weighing materials shall be on a suitable spot within or near to the Harbour, Dock or Pier, and is to be to the satisfaction of the Commissioners. The Act also states that the accommodation, watchhouses, boathouses, huts and weighing materials be kept in good and sufficient repair or the Harbours, Docks and Piers authority shall forfeit the Sum of One hundred Pounds for every Month during which they continue to be out of repair. A copy of this Act can be seen by selecting the 'buttons' to the right. |
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By the 1830's the number of amendments to the 1825 Act had became so perplexing that a further consolidation had to be undertaken. The Board's Solicitor, Sir Felix Hamel, suggested consolidating all the revenue provisions into a single Act, leaving the non-revenue provisions such as the Registry of Shipping outside the general body of Customs Law. This proposal was adopted and became the Consolidation Act of 1853.
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The role of naval reserve and coast defence force was sealed when the Coast-guard Service Act (1856) passed control from the Board of Customs to the Admiralty. Though still available for revenue protection, Coastguards were trained to supplement naval crews and to take charge at wrecks and to save lives. The Board of Trade issued life saving apparatus to Coastguard stations, thus fulfilling its responsibility for safety at sea imposed by the 1854 Merchant Shipping Act. A copy of this Act can be seen by selecting the 'buttons' to the right. |
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The Customs Officers' Manual, a 'Compendium of the Laws, Regulations & General Practice of the Out-Door Department' by William Alexander Sands, Examining Officer at Exeter, was published in April 1868 by Toker, Sweetland & Spicer, Printers, 226 High Street, Exeter. A copy of this manual can be seen by selecting the 'buttons' to the right. |
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'The original idea of the manual was due to the inconvenience and embarrassment experienced by the Compiler on the occasion of his first contact with a class of duties wholly new to him upon his promotion by competitive examination to the rank of Examining Officer. Although the requirements of the Clerks was not included in the original design of the work, yet it is hoped that its perusal will convince those gentlemen that their interests have not been entirely lost sight of. To give anything like a comprehensive system of Long Room practice would require a much better knowledge of that department than the Compiler can be supposed to possess: besides, it is a fact generally admitted, that when a man attempts the instruction of others on matters beyond the sphere of his own observation and experience, his efforts, however well directed, are seldom productive of much good.
It was not the Compilers intention to supply the work to merchants or others unconnected with the Service, he having excluded all reference to extraneous matter, where other than the interests of the Officers are concerned, and making their convenience his special aim, has ignored allusion to every subject not tending to that end.'
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Another attempt at making sense of what was still 'an intricate and labyrinthine chaos of Custom House legislation' was made by this Consolidation Act. A copy of this Act can be seen by selecting the 'buttons' to the right. |
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Although this was still in effect only a 'foreword' to and an 'introduction of various amendments' to those previous Acts of Parliament that were to remain in force until the Customs and Excise Act 1952. In 1972, and beyond, section 42 of this Act was still in force and used to prosecute persons for the importation of indecent and obscene articles.
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An Act to grant certain Duties of Customs - Tea - and Inland Revenue, and to amend the Laws relating to Customs, Inland Revenue, and Savings Banks. A copy of the Act can be seen by selecting the 'buttons' to the right. |
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An Act to grant certain Duties of Customs and Inland Revenue, and to amend the Laws relating to Customs and Inland Revenue. A copy of this Act can be seen by selecting the 'buttons' to the right. |
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An Act for the transfer of property held for the service of HM Customs to the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Works and Public Buildings. A copy of this Act can be seen by selecting the 'buttons' to the right. |
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An Act to grant certain Duties of Customs and Inland Revenue, to alter other Duties and to amend the Laws relating to Customs and Inland Revenue. A copy of this Act can be seen by selecting the 'buttons' to the right. |
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An Act to grant certain Duties of Customs and Inland Revenue, to alter other Duties and to amend the Laws relating to Customs and Inland Revenue. A copy of this Act can be seen by selecting the 'buttons' to the right. |
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An Act to amend the law relating to the Customs and Inland Revenue, and to make other provisions respecting charges payable out of the public revenue, and for other purposes. A copy of this Act can be seen by selecting the 'buttons' to the right. |
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An Act to amend the law relating to the Customs and Inland Revenue, and to the Audit of Public Accounts, and for other purposes connected with the Public Revenue and Expenditure. A copy of this Act can be seen by selecting the 'buttons' to the right. |
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An Act to amend the Law relating to the Customs and Inland Revenue, and for other purposes connected with the Public Revenue and Expenditure. A copy of this Act can be seen by selecting the 'button's to the right. |
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An Act to grant certain Duties of Customs and Inland Revenue, to repeal and alter other Duties and to amend the Law relating to Customs and Inland Revenue. A copy of this Act can be seen by selecting the 'buttons' to the right. |
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This Act made it compulsory for fishing boats to be registered (with Customs?) and their registration marks and numbers to be inscribed on the hull. A copy of this Act can be seen by selecting the 'buttons' to the right. |
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An Act to amend the Law relating to the Customs and Inland Revenue, and for other purposes connected with Finance. A copy of this Act can be seen by selecting the 'buttons' to the right. |
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An Act to make certain amendments of the Law relating to Customs and Inland Revenue, and of the Law relating to the powers and duties of the National Debt Commissioners. A copy of this Act can be seen by selecting the 'buttons' to the right. |
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The arrangements, approved by the Board of Customs, for certain provisions of the Aliens Act 1905 to be carried out by the Customs Department on behalf of the Home Office. These instructions, framed in concert with the Home Office, were issued for the guidance of Customs Officers as Immigration Officers. A copy of General Order 88/1905 introducing the Aliens Act of 1905 can be seen by selecting the 'buttons' to the right. |
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This Act transferred the management of Excise Duties and the associated powers and duties of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue, to the Commissioners of Customs & Excise. A copy of this Act can be seen by selecting the 'buttons' to the right. |
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The 16 February 1909 London Gazette announcement of the Order in Council of the Finance Act 1908 can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right |
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An Act to amend the Law relating to Customs and Inland Revenue, and for other purposes connected with Finance. A copy of this Act can be seen by selecting the 'buttons' to the right. |
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The 1920 Act prohibited the importation and exportation of certain dangerous drugs which included opium, cocaine, morphine and diamorphine save under licence granted by the Secretary of State. The drugs to which the Act applied could be extended in future, by Order in Council, where such drugs were considered ‘likely to be productive, if improperly used, of ill effects . . . analogous to those produced by morphine or cocaine’. Breaches of the Act or any regulation made under it would be criminal offences. This Act, which was replaced by the Misuse of Drugs Act 1951, is still being researched in relation to the work of the Waterguard. A copy of General Order 88/1920 introducing the Act can be seen by selecting the 'button' to the right. |
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The third edition of Sir Nathaniel J Highmore, GBE & KCB's 'The Customs Laws', revised by the original author and GH Denniss CBE, was issued by HMSO in 1922. This attempted to set out the Customs laws that were then in force. Although not an Act of Parliament itself, it was a useful guide to the law and used by HM Customs staff.
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Following 'Partition' in 1923, these regulations laid out the requirements for persons and goods moving between the Irish Republic (Eire) and Northern Ireland (Ulster). A copy of these regulations can be seen by selecting the 'buttons' to the right. |
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In 1923 the Coastguard were placed under the Board of Trade and its role restricted to life saving, salvage from wreck and the administration of the foreshore - the new force was sanctioned by the Coastguard Act of 1925. A copy of this Act can be seen by selecting the 'buttons' to the right. |
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This Act, which concerned prohibitions and restrictions at the outbreak of World War II, can be seen by selecting the 'buttons' to the right. |
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The Exchange Control Act of 1947 made it an offence to import UK and Channel Island bank notes in excess of £10 or to export UK and Channel Island bank notes in excess of £10, and most other means of monetary exchange without Treasury permission. The Waterguard were charged with policing these restrictions in respect of passengers arriving in or departing from the UK. These controls were gradually relaxed throughout the late 1960s and 1970s.
This Act, which was replaced by the Drugs (Prevention of Misuse) Act of 1964 and the Dangerous Drugs Act 1965, is still being researched in relation to the work of the Waterguard.
The Customs & Excise Act of 1952, although its pre-amble describes it as 'An Act to consolidate with amendments certain enactments relating to customs and excise and to extend certain provisions of those enactments to any other matter in relation to which the Commissioners of Customs and Excise are for the time being required in pursuance of any enactment to perform any duties' was in effect a complete re-write of the law relating to HM Customs & Excise in the United Kingdom - and not before time!
The sections of the 1952 Act most used by the Waterguard were:
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The above sections can be seen in more detail by selecting the 'button' to the right. |
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The North Atlantic Treaty Organization - NATO - was formed in 1947 to combat the perceived threat from Eastern Europe in what became known as The Cold War. The countries of Western Europe, Canada and the United States formed this alliance to give each other mutual support. The treaty also gave the USA the opportunity to station their Armed Forces in Western Europe and their service men, and their dependants, the ability to move freely between and within the member countries, and to live duty and tax free in those countries.
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To deal with this new situation the British Government passed the Visiting Forces Act 1952 and HMC&E issued General Order 3/1954 which set out new and appropriate Customs procedures. A copy of the Visiting Forces Act of 1952 can be seen by selecting the 'buttons' to the right. |
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This Act concerning protective duties is still being researched in relation to the work of the Waterguard.
This Act, which was replaced by the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, is still being fully researched in relation to the work of the Waterguard. It came into operation on 2nd June, 1965 and consolidated and repealed the Dangerous Drugs Acts, 1951 and 1964 and repealed Section 320(3) of the Customs and Excise Act, 1952.
There were no changes in practice as far as the Waterguard were concerned except that charges under Sections 45, 56 and 304 of the Customs and Excise Act, 1952, referred to the prohibition imposed under the Dangerous Drugs Act, 1965, thereafter.
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An Act to make provision for the incorporation of that part of Her Majesty's Dominions known as the Island of Rockall into that part of the United Kingdom known as Scotland, and for purposes connected therewith. A copy of the Act can be seen by selecting the 'button' to the right. |
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Cabotage originally meant the transport of goods or passengers between two points in the same country. In the Middle Ages it was seen as the exclusive right of a country to trade or navigate in its own coastal waters. This was re-defined over time to mean the exclusive rights to transport goods or passengers by sea, road, railway or air traffic within its own territory. Politically, cabotage regulations restricting trade to domestic carriers are a form of protectionism. Justifications for cabotage regulations include national security and the need to regulate public safety. Most countries do not permit cabotage by foreign companies although this changed within Europe with the introduction of the European Union.
Cabotage is commonly used as part of the term 'cabotage rights' - the negotiated right of a company from one country to trade in another country. In aviation terms it is the right to operate within the domestic borders of another country.
The Government department concerned with cabotage law and regulation in the UK is The Department of Transport.
These islands are British Crown dependencies and not part of the United Kingdom. However foreign relations, defence, and good governance of the islands are the responsibility of the government of the United Kingdom. They have their own Customs regulations and therefore determine their own rates of tax and duties. In the 1970's they separately rejected membership of the European Union, but retained a limited relationship concerning the free movement of goods. The Customs relationships between these islands and the UK were set out in the various Customs Acts and Customs & Excise Acts but often required amplification and clarification.
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Clarification of the requirements for aircraft flying between the Isle of Man and Great Britain or Northern Ireland from 1956 were set out in OWO 20/1956 Part 2 which can be seen by selecting the 'button' to the right. |
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Most of the offences detected and dealt with by the Waterguard were during rummage of ships and aircraft or the clearance of passengers and crews' baggage. Once an offence under the Customs & Excise Acts had been detected and an offender identified any further questioning of the suspect, and any subsequent statements taken, were in accordance with The Judges' Rules which were first issued in 1912 by the judges of the King's Bench to give English police forces guidance on the procedures that they should follow in detaining and questioning suspects. They were not rules of law, but rather rules of practice. The Rules, which were used by HM Customs
allowed the questioning of any person with a view to finding out whether, or by whom, an offence had been committed,
required the giving of a caution when reasonable grounds had been established to suspect that a person had committed an offence,
required giving a further caution when a person was charged and prohibited questioning after charging save in exceptional circumstances,
required a record of questioning to be kept,
gave guidance on the best way to record a formal written statement.
The rules also included further administrative guidance, on access to defence counsel, and on questioning children and foreigners. Five further rules were added to the original four Rules in 1918, and the rules were further explained in 1934 in a Home Office Circular - 536053/23 - and were reissued in 1964 as Practice Note (Judges' Rules).
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The 1964 rules were introduced to the Waterguard by item 4 of OWO 6/1964, a PDF of which can be seen by selecting the 'button' to the right. |
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An 'Aide Memoir' used when administering a caution or when taking statements can be seen by selecting the 'button' to the right. |
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