Search & Surveillance Act 2012 Flashcards
Entry without warrant to find and avoid loss of evidential material relating to certain offences
Section 15 Search and Surveillance Act 2012
A constable may enter and search a place without warrant if reasonable grounds:
a) To suspect offence punishable by 14 years of imprisonment has been, is being or about to be committed.
b) To believe evidential material relating to offence is in that place;
and if entry delayed to get a search warrant, the evidence will be CADD
Searching people in public place without warrant for evidential material relating to certain offences
Section 16 Search and Surveillance Act 2012
Search a person in a public place without a warrant if they have reasonable grounds to believe that the person is in possession of evidential material relating to an offence punishable by imprisonment to a term of 14 years or more.
Warrantless entry and search of vehicle for evidential material relating to certain offences
Section 17 Search and Surveillance Act 2012
May enter and search a vehicle in a public place without a warrant if believe on reasonable grounds that evidential material relating to an offence punishable by a term of imprisonment of 14 years or more is in or on the vehicle.
Restrictions on some trespass surveillance and use of interception device
You must be:
Section 45 Search and Surveillance 2012
Obtaining evidential material in relation to any offence punishable by a term of 7 years or more imprisonment or any specified Arms Act 1983 Offence.
Activities for which surveillance device warrant required
Section 46 Search and Surveillance 2012
(a) use of an interception device to intercept a private communication:
(b) use of a tracking device,
Of note
except where a tracking device is installed solely for the purpose of ascertaining whether a thing has been opened, tampered with, or in some other way dealt with, and the installation of the device does not involve trespass to land or trespass to goods:
(c) observation of private activity in private premises, and any recording of that observation, by means of a visual surveillance device:
(d) use of a surveillance device that involves trespass to land or trespass to goods:
(e) observation of private activity in the curtilage of private premises, and any recording of that observation, if any part of the observation or recording is by means of a visual surveillance device, and the duration of the observation, for the purposes of a single investigation, or a connected series of investigations, exceeds—
(i) 3 hours in any 24-hour period; or
(ii) 8 hours in total.
Activities that do not require a surveillance device warrant
Section 47 Search and Surveillance 2012
(a) the enforcement officer—
(i) being lawfully in private premises; and
(ii) recording what he or she observes or hears there (provided that the enforcement officer records only those matters that he or she could see or hear without the use of a surveillance device):
(b) covert audio recording of a voluntary oral communication between 2 or more persons made with the consent of at least 1 of them
Special powers where application for search warrant pending
Section 117 Search and Surveillance 2012
May enter and secure place or vehicle and any items found in that place or vehicle if CADD is believed to occur while:
- Search Warrant is about to be made, or
- Has been made and not yet granted or refused by issuing officer
Powers end when one of the following occurs:
1) the expiry of 6 hours
2) Warrant is available to be executed
3) Warrant is refused
Seizure of items in plain view
Section 123 Search and Surveillance 2012
If an officer is exercising a search power or lawful search of a place, vehicle or person and see’s any item in plain view that could be seized under any search warrant or power, he can seize that item.
Access
Legislation
Definition
S3 Search and Surveillance Act 2012
In relation to any computer system, means instruct, communicate with, store data in, receive data from, or otherwise make use of any of the resources of the computer system
Computer System
Legislation
Definition
S3 Search and Surveillance Act 2012
(a) means—
(i) a computer; or
(ii) 2 or more interconnected computers; or
(iii) any communication links between computers or to remote terminals or another device; or
(iv) 2 or more interconnected computers combined with any communication links between computers or to remote terminals or any other device; and
(b) includes any part of the items described in paragraph (a) and all related input, output, processing, storage, software, or communication facilities, and stored data.
Evidential Material
Legislation
Definition
S3 Search and Surveillance Act 2012
In relation to a particular offence, means evidence of the offence or any other item, tangible or intangible, of relevance to the investigation of the offence.
Private Communication
Legislation
Definition
S3 Search and Surveillance Act 2012
(a) means a communication (whether in oral or written form, or in the form of a telecommunication, or otherwise) made under circumstances that may reasonably be taken to indicate that any party to the communication desires it to be confined to the parties to the communication; but
(b) does not include a communication of that kind occurring in circumstances in which any party to the communication ought reasonably to expect that the communication may be intercepted by some other person without having the express or implied consent of any party to do so
Surveillance Device
Legislation
Definition
S3 Search and Surveillance Act 2012
Means a device that is any 1 or more of the following kinds of devices:
(a) an interception device:
(b) a tracking device:
(c) a visual surveillance device
Trespass Surveillance
Legislation
Definition
S3 Search and Surveillance Act 2012
Means surveillance that involves trespass to land or trespass to goods
Unlawfully at Large
Legislation
Definition
S3 Search and Surveillance Act 2012
Means that he or she is any 1 or more of the following:
(a) WTA
(b) unlawfully at large
(c) a prison breaker
(d) an escapee from lawful custody
(e) a special or restricted patient who has escaped or failed to return
(f) a care or special care recipient who has escaped or failed to return
(g) a young person subject to an order who is absconding
