Bailiffs and Body-worn cameras

On 22 July 2019, the Ministry of Justice said: Body worn-cameras to be made compulsory for bailiffs.^[1]

You have a right of access to body-worn camera recordings by making a request.^[2][3][4]

If the bailiff company does not give the recordings within one month, or the recordings are tampered, you can make a complaint online with the Information Commissioners Office,^[5][6] and you can sue for material or non-material damages.^[7][8]

It is a criminal offence for bailiffs to tamper with body-worn camera recordings.^[9]

The bailiff company may refuse your request if you are not in the recordings.

You may record bailiffs using your mobile phone and the bailiff is not entitled to snatch the phone from you and delete the footage.^[10]

If you need to discover whether damage to a vehicle or goods in the bailiff possession is pre-existing, then ask for a copy of the recordings or photographs, when they refuse, then bring a claim for those damages and the court may direct the bailiff company to produce the recordings.^[11]

Get the bailiffs body-worn camera recordings, and get a certificate of posting from the post office.

Template Letter

Give a copy of the letter to the bailiff company by email and make a screenshot of the sent email capturing the time you gave it.

^{[1] Ministry of Justice, 22 July 2019
[2] Article 15 of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)
[3] Section 45 of the Data Protection Act 2018
[4] Section 94 of the Data Protection Act 2018
[5] Article 77 of the General Data Protection Regulations
[6] Section 165 of the Data Protection Act 2018
[7] Article 82 of the General Data Protection Regulations
[8] Section 168 of the Data Protection Act 2018
[9] R v Gary Paul Brown, Indictment
[10] LB Southwark Complaint 18 013 036, 23 May 2019
[11] Civil Procedure Rule 27.4(3)
[Note 1] See Bailiffs Official ID}