Law enforcement
Trading Standards and law enforcement officers have the power to seize illegal video works including DVDs, Blu-rays and video games. The BBFC is designated by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to provide evidence to help secure convictions under the terms of the Video Recordings Act (VRA) 1984.
We issue a Certificate of Evidence under the VRA 1984 or the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995. This evidence is accepted in court as stand alone evidence and does not require anyone from the BBFC to attend as a witness.
We also assist Local Authority Trading Standards Officers and the Police in cases of VRA non-compliance.
Requests
Do I need to get my case assessed by the BBFC?
In order to get an official certificate of evidence you will need to submit either a case of seized media or we can provide evidence based on the title alone. Requests should be sent to evidence@bbfc.co.uk using the relevant submission form available below.
What can/can't I submit?
Title-only request
Where evidence is required on a list of titles we accept a maximum of 200 titles per case and ask that each case is accompanied by an Enforcement Information Request form detailing the following information:
- Date of seizure
- Exhibit label numbers for each case submitted
- Name of defendant (where known)
- The enquiry title must be taken from the title on screen.
- Where a recording is a compilation of various titles (e.g. cartoons, TV programmes) the individual titles should be provided.
- Further details of the Board’s requirements can be found on the forms themselves.
Seized works
Where evidence is required for seized discs, we can accept a maximum of eight discs per case and each case includes an Enforcement Information Request form detailing the following information:
- Date of seizure
- Exhibit label numbers for each disc submitted
- Name of defendant (where known)
- Further details of the Board’s requirements can be found on the forms themselves.
How do I submit?
Simply complete the submission form which can be found below and send it to us for title only cases.
Media items must be addressed to VRA certificates of evidence, BBFC, 3 Soho Square, London, W1D 3HD and must include a hard copy of the submission form. Physical media should be sent securely packaged with instructions of any security procedures to be followed. Please use a so a secure means of tracked delivery. The BBFC cannot be held responsible for any evidence that goes missing en-route to the BBFC.
How much does it cost?
It’s completely free to Law Enforcement Officials. Our law enforcement work in support of Trading Standards and the Police is covered by the income we receive from the classification of content under the Video Recordings Act 1984.
As part of our role we will measure and research cases to check whether they are classified works and whether they are identical or different to the classified version we have in our archive. Following this technical comparison a Certificate of Evidence will be drawn up signed by the BBFC who is authorised by the Department of Culture Media and Sport to do so.
Is there anything else I need to consider?
The BBFC will notify each LEA contact once their case is completed. All cases must be collected in person from our premises or by a courier company. We are not able to return evidence by post.
When sending a courier company to collect evidence, please note that evidence is only released to third parties when they provide us with key information regarding what they are collecting. This includes the name of the officer the case is being returned to and the full address of the destination, in order to ensure the security of the evidence. Without this relevant knowledge regarding the case, or identification, we reserve the right to withhold the case.
