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CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION ACT 2006 - SECT 40

CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION ACT 2006 - SECT 40

40 .         Place, entry of to establish protected forensic area for serious offence

        (1)         In this section —

        serious offence means an offence the statutory penalty for which is or includes imprisonment for 5 years or more or life.

        (2)         If a police officer reasonably suspects —

            (a)         that a serious offence has been or is being committed in a place; or

            (b)         that there is in a place a thing relevant to a serious offence,

                the officer may enter the place and, under section 46, establish a protected forensic area there.

        (3)         A police officer may only exercise the power in subsection (2) in a public open area if the officer reasonably suspects that it is necessary to do so —

            (a)         to prevent a thing relevant to the serious offence that is or may be in the area from being concealed or disturbed until the area has been properly inspected or examined; or

            (b)         to protect the safety of any person who is in or may enter the area.

        (4)         A police officer may only exercise the power in subsection (2) in a place that is not a public open area if the officer reasonably suspects that in the time it would take to get a search warrant —

            (a)         a thing relevant to the serious offence that is or may be in the place is likely to be concealed or disturbed; or

            (b)         the safety of a person who is in or may enter the place is likely to be endangered.