Western Australian Consolidated Acts Western Australian Consolidated Acts (1) Subject to the
making of an order under subsection (7), if —
(a)
proceedings are commenced for an offence under section 61, 62, 63(1), 73,
81(1) or (2), 84(1) or 89(1) in relation to 10 or more different products (
the seized products ); and
(b) the
seized products were seized on the same day from the same premises,
then —
(c) any
other copies of the seized products seized on that day from those premises (
the seized copies ) may be retained by the Crown until the proceedings
referred to in paragraph (a) are finished; and
(d) if
10 or more of the seized products are forfeited to the Crown as a result of
those proceedings, all of the seized copies of those products not the subject
of those proceedings are, at the expiry of the prescribed period, also
forfeited to the Crown.
(2) If the owner of
any seized copies of products liable to forfeiture under
subsection (1)(d) makes a written request to the Commissioner of Police
within 2 months after 10 or more seized products are forfeited to the
Crown as a result of proceedings referred to in subsection (1)(a), that
person must be allowed to view the seized copies at a time and place fixed by
the Commissioner of Police.
(3) The owner of any
seized copy liable to forfeiture under subsection (1)(d) may, within the
prescribed period, apply to a justice for an order for return of the seized
copy.
(4) An applicant for
an order under this section must give notice of the application to the
Commissioner of Police.
(5) The Commissioner
of Police is a party to any proceedings for an order under this section.
(6) If an application
is made for an order under this section, the seized copies may be retained by
the Crown until the application is determined but the operation of
subsection (1)(d) is suspended until the application is determined.
(7) The justice may,
on an application under this section, order that a seized copy to which the
application relates be returned to its owner if satisfied, on the balance of
probabilities, that —
(a) in
the case of a publication, the publication is not a submittable publication or
is classified with a classification other than RC;
(b) in
the case of a film, the film is classified with a classification other than
X 18+ or RC;
(c) in
the case of a computer game, the computer game is classified with a
classification other than RC; and
(d) an
offence under section 61, 62, 63(1), 73, 81(1) or (2), 84(1) or 89(1) was
not committed in relation to the publication, film or computer game.
(8) In this
section —
prescribed period means —
(a)
2 months after the date on which 10 or more of the products seized on the
same day from the same premises are forfeited to the Crown as a result of
proceedings referred to in subsection (1)(a); or
(b) if
the owner requests permission to view the seized products, 2 months from
the time fixed by the Commissioner of Police for the viewing;
products means publications, films or computer
games, and includes a combination of such products.
(9) For the purposes
of this section —
(a)
copies of the same publication, film or computer game do not constitute
different products; and
(b) a
publication, film or computer game is taken to be a copy of a product
if —
(i)
it is in the same form and has the same cover and
identifying markings as the product; or
(ii)
on a viewing, it is substantially the same as the
product.
[Section 117A inserted by No. 30 of 2003
s. 33; amended by No. 10 of 2006 s. 34.]