Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001

27Service of notices

(1)Any document required or authorised by virtue of sections 19 to 26 to be served on any person may be served—

(a)by delivering it to him or by leaving it at his proper address or by sending it by post to him at that address;

(b)if the person is a body corporate other than a limited liability partnership, by serving it in accordance with paragraph (a) on the secretary of the body;

(c)if the person is a limited liability partnership, by serving it in accordance with paragraph (a) on a member of the partnership; or

(d)if the person is a partnership, by serving it in accordance with paragraph (a) on a partner or a person having the control or management of the partnership business.

(2)For the purposes of this section and section 7 of the Interpretation Act 1978 (c. 30) (service of documents by post) in its application to this section, the proper address of any person on whom a document is to be served shall be his last known address, except that—

(a)in the case of service on a body corporate (other than a limited liability partnership) or its secretary, it shall be the address of the registered or principal office of the body;

(b)in the case of service on a limited liability partnership or a member of the partnership, it shall be the address of the registered or principal office of the partnership;

(c)in the case of service on a partnership or a partner or a person having the control or management of a partnership business, it shall be the address of the principal office of the partnership.

(3)For the purposes of subsection (2) the principal office of a company constituted under the law of a country or territory outside the United Kingdom or of a partnership carrying on business outside the United Kingdom is its principal office within the United Kingdom.

(4)Subsection (5) applies if a person to be served under sections 19 to 26 with any document by another has specified to that other an address within the United Kingdom other than his proper address (as determined under subsection (2)) as the one at which he or someone on his behalf will accept documents of the same description as that document.

(5)In relation to that document, that address shall be treated as his proper address for the purposes of this section and section 7 of the Interpretation Act 1978 (c. 30) in its application to this section, instead of that determined under subsection (2).

(6)Where the address of the person on whom a document is to be served under sections 19 to 26 cannot be ascertained after reasonable inquiry, the document shall be taken to be duly served if a copy of it is fixed in a conspicuous position on the premises which are alleged to have been used for the unlicensed sale of intoxicating liquor.

(7)Where the name of the person on whom a document is to be served under sections 19 to 26 cannot be ascertained after reasonable inquiry, the document shall be taken to be duly served if it is served in accordance with this section using an appropriate description for the person concerned.

(8)This section does not apply to any document if rules of court make provision about its service.