Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION MEASURES (IMPLEMENTATION) ACT 1998 - SECT 37

Declaration of exempt premises

(1)

Subject to subsection (2), the regulations may declare premises described in the regulations to be exempt premises for the purposes of this section.

National interest to be criterion for exemption

(2)

Regulations may only be made for the purposes of subsection (1) in relation to premises if the Environment Minister is satisfied that, because of a matter of national interest, it is desirable that entry into, or search of, the premises under an applied provision of an applied State law, an applied provision of a law of a State or Territory or a regulation made under section 21 be prohibited or restricted.

Orders prohibiting entry into exempt premises

(3)

The Environment Minister may, by order published in the Gazette , prohibit or restrict, either absolutely or subject to conditions stated in the order, people who have the power to enter or search premises:

(a)

because of the operation of section 12 or 17; or

(b)

because of regulations made under section 21;

from entering or searching exempt premises referred to in the order.

Order to be disallowable

(4)

An order made under subsection (3) is a disallowable instrument for the purposes of section 46A of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 .

Offence

(5)

If:

(a)

a person enters or searches premises; and

(b)

the entry or search is made under a power that the person has:

(i)

because of the operation of section 12 or 17; or

(ii)

because of regulations made under section 21; and

(c)

the premises are exempt premises; and

(d)

the entry or search contravenes:

(i)

an order in force under subsection (3); or

(ii)

a condition to which such an order is subject;

the person is guilty of an offence punishable on conviction by imprisonment for not more than 2 years.

Note 1: Chapter 2 of the Criminal Code sets out the general principles of criminal responsibility.

Note 2: Subsection 4B(2) of the Crimes Act 1914 allows a court that convicts an individual of an offence to impose a fine instead of, or in addition to, a term of imprisonment. The maximum fine that a court can impose on the individual is worked out by multiplying the maximum term of imprisonment (in months) by 5, and then multiplying the resulting number by the amount of a penalty unit. The amount of a penalty unit is stated in section 4AA of that Act.