South Australian Consolidated Acts South Australian Consolidated Acts25—Investigations by internal investigation branch
(1) Subject to any
determination made by the Authority under section 21, 22 or 23, or
direction given by the Commissioner under section 22, each matter that is
referred to the internal investigation branch under this Act for investigation
or further investigation must be investigated or further investigated by that
branch.
(2) An investigation
or further investigation referred to in subsection (1) is to be
conducted, subject to any directions of the Authority or the Commissioner, in
such manner as the officer in charge of the internal investigation branch
thinks fit.
(3) Subject to any
directions of the Authority or the Commissioner, a member of the
internal investigation branch may, for the purposes of the investigation, make
inquiries and obtain information, property, documents or other records
relevant to the investigation, as he or she thinks fit.
(3a) Where a member of
the internal investigation branch seeks information, property, documents or
other records from a person under subsection (3), that person must not,
if so directed in writing by the Authority, divulge or communicate to any
other person the fact that the investigation is being or has been carried out
or that he or she has been requested or required to provide information,
property, documents or other records.
Maximum penalty: $2 500 or imprisonment for 6 months.
(3b)
Subsection (3a) does not prevent—
(a) a
person from whom information, property, documents or other records have been
sought from consulting—
(i)
a legal practitioner; or
(ii)
some other person with the Authority's approval (which
may be a general approval or given in a particular case),
in relation to the matter under investigation;
(b) a
designated officer whose conduct has been under investigation from divulging
or communicating particulars of the outcome of the investigation as furnished
or registered under section 36 (including any comments made by the
Authority when furnishing any of those particulars).
(3c) If a person
consulted under subsection (3b)(a) obtains information as a result of the
consultation that the person who initiated the consultation is (apart from
that subsection) prohibited from divulging or communicating, the person so
consulted must not divulge or communicate that information.
Maximum penalty: $2 500 or imprisonment for 6 months.
(4)
Subsections (2) and (3) do not authorise a designated officer to
contravene or fail to comply with a law that would, if those subsections had
not been enacted, apply in relation to the investigation of a matter referred
to the internal investigation branch, but nothing in this subsection affects
the operation of any other provision of this section.
(5) A member of the
internal investigation branch may, for the purposes of the investigation,
direct a designated officer to furnish information, produce property, a
document or other record or answer a question, being information, property, a
document or record or a question that is relevant to the investigation.
(6) For the purposes
of the Police Act 1998 or the Protective Security Act 2007 , a
direction given by a member of the internal investigation branch under
subsection (5) has effect as if it had been given by the Commissioner.
(7) A member of the
internal investigation branch must, before giving any direction under
subsection (5) to the designated officer whose conduct is under
investigation, inform the officer of the particulars of the matter under
investigation.
(8) A
designated officer who—
(a)
without reasonable excuse, refuses or fails to furnish information, produce
property, a document or other record or answer a question when so required
under this section; or
(b)
furnishes information or makes a statement to a member of the internal
investigation branch knowing that it is false or misleading in a material
particular,
may be dealt with under the Police Act 1998 or Protective Security
Act 2007 (as the case requires) for breach of discipline.
(8a) A person other
than a designated officer who furnishes information or makes a statement to a
member of the internal investigation branch knowing that it is false or
misleading in a material particular is guilty of an offence.
Maximum penalty: $2 500 or imprisonment for 6 months.
(9) Where a
designated officer is directed under subsection (5) to furnish
information, produce property, a document or record or answer a question, the
officer is not excused from complying with the direction on the ground—
(a) that
the furnishing of the information, the production of the property, the
document or record or the answering of the question—
(i)
would be contrary to the public interest; or
(ii)
would contravene the provisions of any other enactment;
or
(b) that
the information, the property, the document or record or the answer to the
question might tend to show that he or she has committed a breach
of discipline.
(10) A
designated officer may refuse to furnish information, produce property, a
document or record or answer a question if the information, the property, the
document or record or the answer to the question might tend to incriminate him
or her or a close relative of his or hers, but any such refusal may be dealt
with under the Police Act 1998 or Protective Security Act 2007 (as
the case requires) as a breach of discipline.
(12) A
designated officer who furnishes information, produces property, a document or
record or answers a question is not liable to a penalty under the provisions
of any other law prohibiting such an act if the act is done in compliance with
a direction given by a member of the internal investigation branch under this
section.
(13) The officer in
charge of the internal investigation branch may, subject to any directions of
the Commissioner, require a police officer not serving in that branch to
assist the branch in conducting investigations under this section or to
conduct investigations on behalf of the branch, and, in that event, the
provisions of this section apply as if the police officer were a member of the
internal investigation branch.
(13a) This section
does not limit or affect the powers or duties that a police officer would have
apart from this Act in connection with the investigation of an offence.
(14) In this
section—
"designated officer" does not include a prescribed officer or employee.