South Australian Consolidated Acts

LISTENING AND SURVEILLANCE DEVICES ACT 1972 - SECT 6

6—Warrants—General provisions

        (1)         A judge of the Supreme Court may issue a warrant authorising one or more of the following:

            (a)         the use of one or more listening devices;

            (b)         entry to or interference with any premises, vehicle or thing for the purposes of installing, using, maintaining or retrieving one or more listening or surveillance devices.

        (2)         An application for a warrant under subsection (1) may be made—

            (a)         where the Director for Public Prosecutions, being satisfied that the warrant is reasonably required, by written instrument approves the making of the application for the purposes of the investigation of a matter by the police—by a member of the police force; or

            (b)         where the warrant is required for the purposes of the investigation of a matter by the ACC, by—

                  (i)         a member of the Board of the ACC; or

                  (ii)         a member of the staff of the ACC who is a member of the Australian Federal Police or the police force of a State or Territory of the Commonwealth.

        (3)         An application for a warrant must be made by personal appearance before a judge following the lodging of a written application except in urgent circumstances when it may be made in accordance with section 6A.

        (4)         The grounds of an application for a warrant must be verified by affidavit.

        (5)         A judge to whom an application for a warrant is made may require further information to be given in relation to the application.

        (6)         A judge may issue a warrant if satisfied that there are, in the circumstances of the case, reasonable grounds for issuing the warrant, taking into account—

            (a)         the extent to which the privacy of a person would be likely to be interfered with by use of the type of device to which the warrant relates; and

            (b)         the gravity of the criminal conduct to which the investigation relates; and

            (c)         the significance to the investigation of the information sought to be obtained; and

            (d)         the likely effectiveness of the use of the listening or surveillance device in obtaining the information sought; and

            (e)         the availability of alternative means of obtaining the information; and

            (f)         any other warrants under this Act applied for or issued in relation to the same matter; and

            (g)         any other matter that the judge considers relevant.

        (7)         A warrant under this Act—

            (a)         must specify—

                  (i)         the person authorised to exercise the powers conferred by the warrant; and

                  (ii)         whether the type of device to which the warrant relates is a listening device, a visual surveillance device or a tracking device; and

                  (iii)         the period for which the warrant will be in force (being a period not longer than 90 days); and

            (b)         may contain conditions and limitations; and

            (c)         may, on application by the person named in the warrant, be varied or renewed (and the provisions of this Act will apply in relation to such an application in the same way as if it were an application for the issue of a warrant).

        (7a)         A judge by whom a warrant is issued, varied or renewed on application under this Act must cause the warrant, or a copy of the warrant, as issued, varied or renewed and the affidavit verifying the grounds on which the application was made to be dealt with in accordance with the rules of the Supreme Court.

        (7b)         Subject to any conditions or limitations specified in the warrant—

            (a)         a warrant authorising the use of a listening device to listen to or record words spoken by, to or in the presence of a specified person who, according to the terms of the warrant, is suspected on reasonable grounds of having committed, or being likely to commit, a serious offence will be taken to authorise entry to or interference with any premises, vehicle or thing as reasonably required to install, use, maintain or retrieve the device for that purpose;

            (b)         a warrant authorising (whether under the terms of the warrant or by force of paragraph (a)) entry to or interference with any premises, vehicle or thing will be taken to authorise—

                  (i)         the use of reasonable force or subterfuge for that purpose; and

                  (ii)         the extraction and use of electricity for that purpose or for the use of the listening or surveillance device to which the warrant relates;

            (c)         a warrant authorising entry to specified premises will be taken to authorise non-forcible passage through adjoining or nearby premises (but not through the interior of any building or structure) as reasonably required for the purpose of gaining entry to those specified premises;

            (d)         the powers conferred by any warrant may be exercised by the person named in the warrant at any time and with such assistance as is necessary.

        (8)         Where the Commissioner of Police or a member of the Board of the ACC is satisfied that the grounds on which a warrant was issued have ceased to exist, the Commissioner or the member (as the case may require) must, if it is still in force, cancel the warrant by instrument in writing.

        (9)         A warrant may, at any time, be cancelled by instrument in writing—

            (a)         if issued to a member of the police force, by the Commissioner of Police;

            (b)         if issued to a member of the Board of the ACC or a member of the staff of the ACC, by a member of the Board of the ACC.