Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 section 28A

Power of constables etc. to require production of registration documents

Section 28A gives police officers and persons authorised by the Secretary of State the power to require a person using a vehicle to produce its registration document, and sets out the consequences of failing to do so along with certain defences.

• A police constable or a person authorised by the Secretary of State can require anyone using a vehicle to produce the vehicle's registration document (commonly known as the V5C or logbook) for inspection; an authorised person must show proof of their authority if asked.
• Failing to produce the document on request is a criminal offence punishable on summary conviction by a fine up to level 2 on the standard scale, but there are three possible defences that can excuse the failure.
• The first defence is that the person produces the document in person at a police station (or vehicle testing station, if the request came from an authorised person) of their choosing within seven days or as soon as reasonably practicable. The second defence applies where the vehicle is leased or hired and not registered in the lessee's or hirer's name: the person must instead produce a copy of the lease or hire agreement (or other prescribed documentary evidence) within the same timeframe, and must have reasonable grounds to believe the lessor or hirer can produce the registration document.
• The Secretary of State may make regulations prescribing what counts as acceptable documentary evidence of a lease or hire agreement, and may prescribe additional exceptions beyond those set out in the section itself. A person relying on any of these defences must first raise sufficient evidence of the defence before the prosecution is required to disprove it beyond reasonable doubt.