Australian Capital Territory Numbered Acts Australian Capital Territory Numbered Acts(1) A police officer or authorised person may apply to a magistrate for a warrant to enter premises, a vehicle or combination.
(2) The application must be sworn and state the grounds on which the warrant is sought.
Note Swear an oath includes make an affirmation (see Legislation Act, dict, pt 1, def swear) .
(3) The magistrate may refuse to consider the application until the police officer or authorised person gives the magistrate all the information the magistrate requires about the application in the way the magistrate requires.
(4) The magistrate may issue a warrant only if satisfied there are reasonable grounds for suspecting—
(a) there is a particular thing or activity connected with an offence against an Australian heavy vehicle road law; and
(b) the thing or activity—
(i) is, or is being engaged in, at the premises or in the vehicle or combination; or
(ii) may be, or may be engaged in, at the premises or in the vehicle or combination within the next 3 days; and
(c) a vehicle or combination has been, or may have been, involved in an incident involving death or personal injury or damage to property and—
(i) the vehicle or combination is, or has been, located at the premises; or
(ii) the premises are, or may be, connected (directly or indirectly) with the vehicle or combination or any part of the vehicle's, or combination's, equipment or load.
(5) The warrant must state—
(a) that a police officer or authorised person may, with any necessary assistance and force, enter the premises, vehicle or combination and exercise the police officer's or authorised person's powers under this part; and
Note Only a police officer may use force against a person (see s 364).
(b) the offence or incident for which the warrant is issued; and
(c) the things that may be seized under the warrant; and
(d) the hours when the premises, vehicle or combination may be entered; and
(e) the date, within 3 days after the day of the warrant's issue, the warrant ends.
(6) Without limiting a police officer's or authorised person's powers under this part, the power to search premises under this section includes the following:
(a) the power to search for evidence of a heavy vehicle road law offence or a breach of an approved road transport compliance scheme;
(b) the power to search for and inspect any record, device or other thing that relates to a vehicle or combination or any part of its equipment or load and that is located at the premises;
(c) the power to take copies of, or extracts from, the following:
(i) a record that is located at the premises and is required to be kept under a heavy vehicle road law or approved road transport compliance scheme;
(ii) transport documentation or journey documentation located at the premises;
(iii) any other record, or readout or other data obtained from a device or thing, located at the premises that the officer or person believes on reasonable grounds provides, or may on further inspection provide, evidence of a heavy vehicle road law offence or a breach of an approved road transport compliance scheme;
(d) the power to use photocopying equipment on the premises to copy a record or other material;
(e) the power to exercise, for a vehicle or combination located at the premises, any power that may be exercised during a search of a vehicle or combination under subsection (7);
(f) a power that may be exercised during an inspection of premises under section 336 (2).
(7) Without limiting a police officer's or authorised person's powers under this part, the power to search a vehicle or combination under this section includes the following:
(a) the power to search for evidence of a heavy vehicle road law offence or a breach of an approved road transport compliance scheme;
(b) the power to search for and inspect any record, device or other thing that relates to the vehicle or combination or any part of its equipment or load and that is located in the vehicle or combination;
(c) the power to take copies of, or extracts from, the following:
(i) a record that is located in the vehicle or combination and that is required to be carried in the vehicle or combination under a heavy vehicle road law or an approved road transport compliance scheme;
(ii) transport documentation or journey documentation located in the vehicle or combination;
(iii) any other record, or a readout or other data obtained from a device or thing, located in the vehicle or combination that the officer or person believes on reasonable grounds provides, or may on further inspection provide, evidence of a heavy vehicle road law offence or a breach of an approved road transport compliance scheme;
(d) a power that may be exercised during an inspection of a vehicle or combination under section 336 (3).
(8) In this section:
"connected"—an activity is connected with an offence if—
(a) the offence has been committed by engaging or not engaging in it; or
(b) it will provide evidence of the commission of the offence.