LISTENING DEVICES ACT 1984 - SECT 18 Radio/telephone warrants
This legislation has been repealed.
LISTENING DEVICES ACT 1984 - SECT 18
Radio/telephone warrants18 Radio/telephone warrants
(1) In this section, a reference to a telephone includes a reference to a radio or any other communication device.
(2) Upon application made by telephone by a member of the police force that the member of the police force suspects or believes:(a) that a prescribed offence has been, is about to be or is likely to be committed, and(b) that, for the purpose of an investigation into that offence or of enabling evidence to be obtained of the commission of the offence or the identity of the offender, the immediate use of a listening device is necessary,an eligible Judge may, if satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for that suspicion or belief, authorise, by warrant, the use of the listening device.
(3) An eligible Judge shall not grant a warrant under this section authorising the use of a listening device if the eligible Judge is satisfied that it would be practicable in the circumstances for a warrant to be granted under section 16 authorising the use of that device.
(4) The application under this section may be made by a member of the police force by causing the application to be transmitted to an eligible Judge by another member of the police force.
(5) The fact that an application is made under this section by a member of the police force who causes the application to be transmitted to an eligible Judge by another member of the police force does not, if the eligible Judge is of the opinion that it is, in all the circumstances, impracticable to communicate directly with the member of the police force making the application, prevent the eligible Judge being satisfied as to the matters referred to in subsection (2).
(6) An eligible Judge grants a warrant under this section by stating the terms of the warrant.
(7) Where an eligible Judge grants a warrant under this section, the eligible Judge shall cause a record to be made in writing of:(a) the name of the member of the police force who was the applicant,(b) where the application was transmitted by a member of the police force on behalf of the applicant--the name of the member of the police force who so transmitted the application,(c) the details of the application,(d) the terms of the warrant, and(e) the date and time the warrant was granted.
(8) The provisions of section 16 (2)-(6) apply to and in respect of a warrant granted under this section in the same way as those provisions apply to and in respect of a warrant granted under section 16, except that a reference in section 16 (4) (c), as so applied, to 21 days shall be read and construed as a reference to 24 hours.
(9) The regulations may provide that, in such circumstances as are prescribed, the functions of an eligible Judge under this section may be exercised by an eligible judicial officer. For that purpose a reference in sections 18, 19 and 20A to an eligible Judge is to be read and construed as a reference to an eligible judicial officer.