POLICE POWERS AND RESPONSIBILITIES ACT 2000 - SECT 150
Search warrant application
150 Search warrant application
(1) A police officer may apply for a warrant
to enter and search a place (a
"search warrant" )—
(a) to obtain evidence of the commission of an offence;
or
(b) to obtain evidence that may be confiscation related evidence; or
(c)
to find a vehicle that is or is to be impounded or immobilised under chapter 4
or 22 ; or
(d) to find control order property; or
(e) if the place is
premises at which a senior police officer reasonably believes 1 or more
disorderly activities have taken place and are likely to take place again—to
find prohibited items at the place.
(2) The application may be made to any
justice, unless the application must be made to a magistrate or Supreme Court
judge under subsection (3) or (4) .
(3) Unless the application must be made
to a Supreme Court judge under subsection (4) , the application must be made
to a magistrate if the thing to be sought under the proposed warrant is—
(a)
evidence of the commission of an offence only because—
(i) it is a thing
that may be liable to forfeiture or is forfeited; or
(ii) it may be used in
evidence for a forfeiture proceeding; or
(iii) it is a property tracking
document; or
(b) evidence of the commission of an indictable offence
committed in another State that, if it were committed in Queensland, would be
an indictable offence in Queensland; or
(c) confiscation related evidence; or
(d) control order property; or
Example for paragraph (a)(ii)—
The search
may be for evidence for which an application for a restraining order may be
made under chapter 2 or chapter 3 of the Confiscation Act .
(e) a
prohibited item.
(4) The application must be made to a Supreme Court judge
if, when entering and searching the place, it is intended to do anything that
may cause structural damage to a building.
(5) An application under this
section must—
(a) be sworn and state the grounds on which the warrant is
sought; and
(b) include information required under the responsibilities code
about any search warrants issued within the previous year in relation to—
(i) for an application relating to SDOCO related evidence—the person
convicted of the qualifying offence to which the application relates; or
(ii)
for an application relating to premises at which a senior police officer
reasonably believes 1 or more disorderly activities have taken place and are
likely to take place again—the premises; or
(iii) for another
application—
(A) the place or a person suspected of being involved in the
commission of the offence or suspected offence to which the application
relates; or
(B) the confiscation related activity to which the application
relates.
(6) Subsection (5) (b) applies only to—
(a) information kept in a
register that the police officer may inspect; and
(b) information the officer
otherwise actually knows.
(7) The justice, magistrate or judge (the
"issuer" ) may refuse to consider the application until the police officer
gives the issuer all the information the issuer requires about the application
in the way the issuer requires.
Example—
The issuer may require additional
information supporting the application to be given by statutory declaration.
