(1) An application under section 547may be made by phone, fax, email, radio,
videoconferencing or another form of electronic communication if the
investigator considers it necessary because of—
(a) urgent circumstances; or
(b) other special circumstances, including, for example, the investigator’s
remote location.
(2) The application—
(a) may not be made before the
investigator prepares the written application under section 547(2) ; but
(b)
may be made before the written application is sworn.
(3) The magistrate may
issue the warrant (the
"original warrant" ) only if the magistrate is satisfied—
(a) it was
necessary to make the application under subsection (1) ; and
(b) the way the
application was made under subsection (1) was appropriate.
(a) if there is a reasonably
practicable way of immediately giving a copy of the warrant to the
investigator, for example, by sending a copy by fax or email, the magistrate
must immediately give a copy of the warrant to the investigator; or
(b)
otherwise—
(i) the magistrate must tell the investigator the date and time
the warrant is issued and the other terms of the warrant; and
(ii) the
investigator must complete a form of warrant, including by writing on it—
(A) the magistrate’s name; and
(B) the date and time the magistrate issued
the warrant; and
(C) the other terms of the warrant.
(5) The copy of the
warrant mentioned in subsection (4) (a) , or the form of warrant completed
under subsection (4) (b) (in either case the
"duplicate warrant" ) is a duplicate of, and as effectual as, the
original warrant.
(6) The investigator must, at the first reasonable
opportunity, send to the magistrate—
(a) the written application complying
with section 547(2) and (3) ; and
(b) if the investigator completed a form
of warrant under subsection (4) (b) —the completed form of warrant.
(7) The
magistrate must keep the original warrant and, on receiving the documents
under subsection (6) —
"relevant magistrates court" , in relation to a magistrate, means the
Magistrates Court that the magistrate constitutes under the
Magistrates Act 1991.