PROCEEDS OF CRIME ACT 1987 - SECT 71 Search warrant for location etc. of property

PROCEEDS OF CRIME ACT 1987 - SECT 71

  (1)   Where:

  (a)   a person has been convicted of an indictable offence and a police officer has reasonable grounds for suspecting that there is, or may be within the next following 72 hours, upon any land, or upon or in any premises, in a State or Territory a property - tracking document in relation to the offence; or

  (b)   a police officer has reasonable grounds for suspecting that:

  (i)   a person has committed an indictable offence; and

  (ii)   there is, or may be within the next following 72 hours, upon any land, or upon or in any premises, in a State or Territory a property - tracking document in relation to the offence;

the police officer may:

  (c)   lay before a Judge of the Supreme Court of:

  (i)   the State or Territory in which the person was convicted of the offence or in which the offence is believed to have been committed; or

  (ii)   the State or Territory referred to in paragraph   ( a) or (b);

    an information on oath setting out those grounds; and

  (d)   apply to the Judge for a search warrant under subsection   ( 4) in respect of the land or premises.

  (2)   Where a police officer applying for a warrant under this section in respect of an offence includes in the information under subsection   ( 1) information on oath that the officer has reasonable grounds to believe that:

  (a)   if the offence is an ordinary indictable offence:

  (i)   the person who was convicted of the offence, or who is believed to have committed the offence, derived a benefit, directly or indirectly, from the commission of the offence; and

  (ii)   property specified in the information is subject to the effective control of the person; or

  (b)   if the offence is a serious offence--property specified in the information is subject to the effective control of the person;

the Judge may treat any document relevant to identifying, locating or quantifying that property as a property - tracking document in relation to the offence for the purposes of this section.

  (3)   In determining whether to treat a document, under subsection   ( 2), as a property - tracking document in relation to an offence, the Judge may have regard to the matters referred to in subsection   9A(2).

  (4)   Where an application is made under subsection   ( 1) for a search warrant in respect of land or premises, the Judge may, subject to subsections   ( 5) and (6), issue a search warrant authorising a police officer (whether or not named in the warrant), with such assistance, and by such force, as is necessary and reasonable:

  (a)   to enter upon the land or upon or into the premises;

  (b)   to search the land or premises for documents of the kind referred to in subsection   ( 1); and

  (c)   to seize any document found in the course of the search that the police officer believes, on reasonable grounds, to be a document of that kind.

  (5)   A Judge shall not issue a search warrant under subsection   ( 4) unless the Judge is satisfied that:

  (a)   the document involved cannot be identified or described with sufficient particularity for the purpose of obtaining a production order in respect of the document;

  (b)   a production order has been given in respect of the document and has not been complied with;

  (c)   a production order in respect of the document would be unlikely to be effective because there are reasonable grounds to suspect that such a production order would not be complied with; or

  (d)   the investigation for the purposes of which the search warrant is being sought might be seriously prejudiced if the police officer does not gain immediate access to the document without notice to any person.

  (6)   A Judge shall not issue a search warrant under this section unless:

  (a)   the informant or some other person has given the Judge, either orally or by affidavit, any further information that the Judge requires concerning the grounds on which the search warrant is sought; and

  (b)   the Judge is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for issuing the search warrant.

  (7)   There shall be stated in a search warrant issued under this section:

  (a)   a statement of the purpose for which the warrant is issued, including a reference to the nature of the indictable offence that has been or is believed to have been committed;

  (b)   whether entry is authorised to be made at any time of the day or night or during specified hours of the day or night;

  (c)   a description of the kind of documents authorised to be seized; and

  (d)   a date, not being later than one month after the day of issue of the warrant, upon which the warrant ceases to have effect.

  (8)   If, in the course of searching, under a warrant issued under this section, for a property - tracking document in relation to a particular offence, a police officer finds:

  (a)   any document that the police officer believes, on reasonable grounds, to be:

  (i)   a property - tracking document in relation to the offence, although not of a kind specified in the warrant; or

  (ii)   a property - tracking document in relation to another indictable offence; or

  (b)   any thing that the police officer believes, on reasonable grounds, will afford evidence as to the commission of a criminal offence;

and the police officer believes, on reasonable grounds, that it is necessary to seize that document or thing in order to prevent its concealment, loss or destruction, the warrant shall be deemed to authorise the police officer to seize that document or thing.