Property and Confiscation of Goods At Aiport Security
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Property and Confiscation of Goods At Aiport Security
Can someone who actually knows inform me of the law regarding confiscation of goods by security staff? ie Say a bottle of Duty Free whiskey security cleared at another European airport and carried as hand baggage but forbidden on connection to another flight? Or similar - we know the drill.
If say I have my £20 bottle of whiskey and they confiscate it without compensation or any reasonable attempt to return my property to me, what law are they using.
And PLEASE if you don't KNOW don't post as there are other threads that we can vent our frustrations on. I am looking for UK Law, statute and act that is being used here. It has to be a little more than tems and condtions in carriage of contract?
I am tired of rolling over and being BOHICA d.
If say I have my £20 bottle of whiskey and they confiscate it without compensation or any reasonable attempt to return my property to me, what law are they using.
And PLEASE if you don't KNOW don't post as there are other threads that we can vent our frustrations on. I am looking for UK Law, statute and act that is being used here. It has to be a little more than tems and condtions in carriage of contract?
I am tired of rolling over and being BOHICA d.
lol
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You may be interested to know that both the airports and HMRC sell this stuff off at auction houses around the country.
At our local commercial auction house, there is a particular section for Airport confiscated & lost items. Stuff that turns up are hundreds of knives, all bundled into lots such as 'swiss army', leatherman etc, booze, perfume etc etc. Same with HMRC - in a seperate section.
So, someone is making a nice packet out of confiscating your perfume, bottle of plonk or forgotten Swiss Army in your holdall.
As the airport is SELLING the stuff off, surely there could be a challenge in law re. compensation?
At our local commercial auction house, there is a particular section for Airport confiscated & lost items. Stuff that turns up are hundreds of knives, all bundled into lots such as 'swiss army', leatherman etc, booze, perfume etc etc. Same with HMRC - in a seperate section.
So, someone is making a nice packet out of confiscating your perfume, bottle of plonk or forgotten Swiss Army in your holdall.
As the airport is SELLING the stuff off, surely there could be a challenge in law re. compensation?
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If there is no means provided to recover goods that are 'confiscated' at security then surely this is theft? Theft by the security organisations of property held by passengers? In my own case I have only lost a set of electricians screwdrivers (tiny ones used to maintain the integrity of my specs) and a corkscrew carried through by mistake, but surely we must have some right to get our property back at some stage instead of it being sold off and lining some stranger's pockets?
Not always going to help but: I have a Swiss card in my wallet, like a credit card, includes a knife, emergency scissors etc: not exactly life threatening, might give you an irritating paper cut, but that's for another thread! A couple of times I've forgotten to remove it; once I remembered after the bags were in the hold, other time the Plastic Plod found it. On both occassions, bought an envelope & a stamp in Smiths & posted it home, worked a treat. PP was a little thrown, but couldn't see a way around it. As mentioned, won't help with everything, but why should they keep your stuff, & then sell it!?! Cheeky 
!
!
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Skipness One Echo
It depends.
In the example you use ie a bottle, I believe there is no statute on the subject, although it may fall under regulations the DfT can make for items carried on aircraft.
However, the rules used by the airports authorities are that if you wont fly without it, then you can't use the airport, and therefore you can't fly.In that case you get landed (subject to imigration controls).
As to getting it back, No idea. When it is taken from you, you have to sign a form in errect surrendering posession. Before the current security restrictions, this form used to outline if the item could be returned to you, and how you go about it.
As for other items, they may fall under the aviation security act, eg a flick knife (yes, people do try to fly with them) and no, you wont get it back, as it's an offence to have one in the UK, which also applies to many other items which people try to take in hand baggage.
Smudger
No, it's not theft. If for no other reason than there is no intention to dishonestly appriopriate.
It depends.
In the example you use ie a bottle, I believe there is no statute on the subject, although it may fall under regulations the DfT can make for items carried on aircraft.
However, the rules used by the airports authorities are that if you wont fly without it, then you can't use the airport, and therefore you can't fly.In that case you get landed (subject to imigration controls).
As to getting it back, No idea. When it is taken from you, you have to sign a form in errect surrendering posession. Before the current security restrictions, this form used to outline if the item could be returned to you, and how you go about it.
As for other items, they may fall under the aviation security act, eg a flick knife (yes, people do try to fly with them) and no, you wont get it back, as it's an offence to have one in the UK, which also applies to many other items which people try to take in hand baggage.
Smudger
No, it's not theft. If for no other reason than there is no intention to dishonestly appriopriate.
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liquid restrictions
Skipness One Echo
first of all what is BOHICA??
Not sure about laws regarding what airport staff can confiscate and how you retrieve goods confiscated, but below is what can be taken on board UK flights in hand luggage.
At what airport was your whiskey confiscated? What were the circumstances? Was it confiscated before you boarded a connecting flight?? If you go to www.baa.co.uk you will find the exact laws regarding hand luggage restrictions for the UK. Below is taken directly from that website:
All liquids must be in individual containers not greater than 100ml capacity. They must be placed in one transparent re-sealable transparent bag, no larger than 20cm x 20cm (8" x 8") in size, and fit comfortably inside the bag so it can be fastened closed
Only one bag per passenger is allowed. The bag must be clear and re-sealable, such as ‘ziplock’ bags or bags with pressable seals. Larger bags or bags that are not sealable, such as fold-over sandwich bags are not allowed
Each passenger must remove their clear plastic bag from their hand baggage and place it in on the conveyor belt for X-ray screening
Liquids in containers of more than 100ml capacity can be packed in your hold baggage
Exemptions to the liquids rule applies for liquid medicine or baby milk/food
The bolded statement for sure indicates that they cannot take it from you. You can put it into your main hold luggage.
hope the above helps
first of all what is BOHICA??
Not sure about laws regarding what airport staff can confiscate and how you retrieve goods confiscated, but below is what can be taken on board UK flights in hand luggage.
At what airport was your whiskey confiscated? What were the circumstances? Was it confiscated before you boarded a connecting flight?? If you go to www.baa.co.uk you will find the exact laws regarding hand luggage restrictions for the UK. Below is taken directly from that website:
All liquids must be in individual containers not greater than 100ml capacity. They must be placed in one transparent re-sealable transparent bag, no larger than 20cm x 20cm (8" x 8") in size, and fit comfortably inside the bag so it can be fastened closed
Only one bag per passenger is allowed. The bag must be clear and re-sealable, such as ‘ziplock’ bags or bags with pressable seals. Larger bags or bags that are not sealable, such as fold-over sandwich bags are not allowed
Each passenger must remove their clear plastic bag from their hand baggage and place it in on the conveyor belt for X-ray screening
Liquids in containers of more than 100ml capacity can be packed in your hold baggage
Exemptions to the liquids rule applies for liquid medicine or baby milk/food
The bolded statement for sure indicates that they cannot take it from you. You can put it into your main hold luggage.
hope the above helps
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I think legally speaking they are not "confiscating" your items. It's just that if you have these items with you, you're not allowed to enter the "secured" area of the airport. So they give you the choice:
a. Turn back, do not enter the secured area, take the train to your destination (or, as alfaman suggested, buy an envelope & stamps and mail the offending item to yourself).
b. Surrender the items to airport security: You give it away to them. They do not take it from you.
For all practical purposes, this may feel like a confiscation. But since legally nobody without a specific court order can take goods from you (except the tax man), they've implemented it as above.
Since you gave the goods away to the airport security, they are under no obligation to return the goods to you at any time. Although I know that some airports do provide a service to hold your goods in storage for you to pick up at a later date.
I've never had an item of mine "confiscated" but a few years back I went through the metal detector and it beeped. The security guy came up to me and politely asked if I allowed him to search me. I politely asked what would happen if I said "no". He politely told me "Well, you don't get to fly today, sir". "In that case go ahead and search me..." I guess with the forbidden items the same attitude prevails. You have two options: surrender the items or don't fly.
a. Turn back, do not enter the secured area, take the train to your destination (or, as alfaman suggested, buy an envelope & stamps and mail the offending item to yourself).
b. Surrender the items to airport security: You give it away to them. They do not take it from you.
For all practical purposes, this may feel like a confiscation. But since legally nobody without a specific court order can take goods from you (except the tax man), they've implemented it as above.
Since you gave the goods away to the airport security, they are under no obligation to return the goods to you at any time. Although I know that some airports do provide a service to hold your goods in storage for you to pick up at a later date.
I've never had an item of mine "confiscated" but a few years back I went through the metal detector and it beeped. The security guy came up to me and politely asked if I allowed him to search me. I politely asked what would happen if I said "no". He politely told me "Well, you don't get to fly today, sir". "In that case go ahead and search me..." I guess with the forbidden items the same attitude prevails. You have two options: surrender the items or don't fly.
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Security staff cannot ''confiscate'' any property belonging to you unless it is or could be mistaken for a weapon of somekind, in which case a law enforcement officer would remove as evidence. Other items such as liquids lighters you will be asked to surrender or give up for disposal with the option of returning said item to be checked as hold luggage or returned to another person landside.
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Just this last week at Stansted, travelling as SLF with an 18 month old baby, I had a tiny baby's fork confiscated as is could be a "dangerous weapon". The thing was roughly 3 inches long, had a round plastic handle and had 3 very blunt metal prongs so as not to inadvertantly injure said baby. Now this is plainly ludicrous since 2 other airports in Switzerland had already accepted the fork and it was only the "Officious" UK security staff making-up their own rules. I argued that if this was a dangerous weapon they should confiscate everone's keys too. I didn't win, so someone will be getting a nice little baby fork at an auction in Bishops Stortford. Looking around during the discussion, I saw literally gallons of shampoo, conditioner and toothpaste. All because of scare tactics initiated by the British Government (And yet to be validated).
I am already voting with my feet. I travel a lot on Business to the US and Far-East from Switzerland. I used to habitually go via LHR but not anymore. The long security queues, the attitude of the security staff and the new departure tax all contirbute to increased business from Paris, Frankfurt or Zurich. UK based pilots take note: I'm sure there are thousands of like-minded people in Europe. It's ultimately your jobs at stake!
I am already voting with my feet. I travel a lot on Business to the US and Far-East from Switzerland. I used to habitually go via LHR but not anymore. The long security queues, the attitude of the security staff and the new departure tax all contirbute to increased business from Paris, Frankfurt or Zurich. UK based pilots take note: I'm sure there are thousands of like-minded people in Europe. It's ultimately your jobs at stake!
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I haven't had anything confiscated I am just very curious how on Earth people can have so many possesions removed from them without any form of come back.
And Sinbad, BOHICA stands for Bend Over Here It Comes Again........
So I have the option of mailing it to myself....cunning and rather obvious lol. Cheers - never thought of that.
And Sinbad, BOHICA stands for Bend Over Here It Comes Again........
So I have the option of mailing it to myself....cunning and rather obvious lol. Cheers - never thought of that.
