Commonwealth Numbered Acts

TORRES STRAIT FISHERIES ACT 1984 NO. 23 OF 1984 - SECT. 42.

PART VI-ENFORCEMENT

42. (1) Subject to this section, an officer may-

   (a)  board or enter a boat that he has reasonable grounds to believe has
        been used, is being used or is intended to be used for fishing in an
        area of Australian jurisdiction and may-

        (i)    search the boat for fish, for equipment that has been used, is
               being used, is intended to be used or is capable of being used
               for fishing or for any document relating to the operations of
               the boat; and

        (ii)   break open any hold, compartment, container or other receptacle
               on the boat that the officer has reasonable grounds to believe
               contains any document, equipment or thing that may afford
               evidence as to the commission of an offence against this Act;

   (b)  where he has reasonable grounds to believe that there is on any land
        or premises any document, equipment or thing that may afford evidence
        as to the commission of an offence against this Act, with the consent
        of the owner or occupier of the land or premises or in pursuance of a
        warrant granted under sub-section (4)-

        (i)    enter the land or premises using such force as is necessary for
               the purpose;

        (ii)   search the land or premises and break open and search any
               cupboard, drawer, chest, trunk, box, package or other
               receptacle, whether a fixture or not, in which he has
               reasonable grounds to believe there is a document, equipment or
               thing of that kind; and

        (iii)  examine and take possession of, or secure against interference,
               any document, equipment or thing that he has reasonable grounds
               to believe may afford evidence as to the commission of an
               offence against this Act;

   (c)  examine any fish, equipment or document found pursuant to powers
        exercised under paragraph (a);

   (d)  seize, detain, remove or secure-

        (i)    any fish that the officer has reasonable grounds to believe
               have been taken, processed, carried or landed in contravention
               of this Act;

        (ii)   any boat (other than a Papua New Guinea boat) or equipment that
               the officer has reasonable grounds to believe has been used, is
               being used or is intended to be used in contravention of this
               Act; or

        (iii)  any document or other thing that he has reasonable grounds to
               believe may afford evidence as to the commission of an offence
               against this Act;

   (e)  detain any Papua New Guinea boat that the officer has reasonable
        grounds to believe has been used, is being used or is intended to be
        used in contravention of this Act;

   (f)  arrest, without warrant, a person if the officer has reasonable
        grounds to believe that-

        (i)    the person is committing or has committed an offence against
               this Act; and

        (ii)   proceedings against the person by summons would not be
               effective;

   (g)  require the master of a boat that the officer has reasonable grounds
        to believe has been used, is being used or is intended to be used in
        contravention of this Act to bring the boat to a place in Australia,
        in an external Territory or to a place at sea specified by the officer
        (whether or not the boat has previously been brought to another place
        or other places in accordance with a requirement made by an officer
        under this paragraph) and to remain in charge of the boat at that
        place until an officer permits him to depart from that place;

   (h)  bring a boat that the officer has reasonable grounds to believe has
        been used or, is being used in contravention of this Act to a place in
        Australia or in an external Territory or to a place at sea (whether or
        not the boat has previously been brought to another place or other
        places by an officer exercising powers under this paragraph) and may
        remain in control of the boat pending the taking and determination of
        proceedings in respect of that contravention;

   (j)  require the master of a boat in respect of which a licence under
        section 19 or a Treaty endorsement is required to be in force under
        this Act to give information concerning the boat, the crew or any
        person on board the boat;

   (k)  require a person who is on board a boat in respect of which a licence
        under section 19 or a Treaty endorsement is required to be in force
        under this Act to state his full name and usual place of residence;

   (m)  require the master of a boat to state whether he is the holder of a
        master fisherman's licence and, if so, to produce the licence and
        permit the officer to make copies of, or take extracts from, the
        licence;

   (n)  require the master of a boat in respect of which a licence under
        section 19 or a Treaty endorsement is required to be in force under
        this Act to produce the licence or endorsement, as the case may be,
        and permit the officer to make copies of, or take extracts from, the
        licence or endorsement, as the case may be;

   (o)  require the master of a boat to cause to be lifted from the sea any
        equipment that the officer has reason to believe is being used by a
        person on board the boat in contravention of this Act;

   (p)  require a person on board a boat at sea to state whether he has
        engaged in fishing on the boat during the current voyage of the boat;
        and

   (q)  sell any fish seized by him under this Act.

(2) The powers of an officer under sub-section (1) may be exercised-

   (a)  in the case of powers under that sub-section other than the power
        referred to in paragraph (1) (g)-in Australia, in an external
        Territory, in an area of Australian jurisdiction or in an area of
        waters in relation to which the
Fisheries Act 1952 applies; and

   (b)  in the case of the power referred to in paragraph (1)(g)-in a place
        referred to in paragraph (a) of this sub-section, in an
        area of Papua New Guinea jurisdiction, in Papua New Guinea or in the
        territorial sea of Papua New Guinea.

(3) Where an officer has reasonable grounds to believe that there is on any
land or in any premises any document, equipment or thing that may afford
evidence as to the commission of an offence against this Act, the officer may
make application to a Justice of the Peace for a warrant authorizing the
officer to enter the land or premises for the purpose of ascertaining whether
there is on that land or in those premises any such document, equipment or
thing.

(4) If, on an application by an officer under sub-section (3), the Justice of
the Peace is satisfied, by information on oath or affirmation, that there are
reasonable grounds for suspecting that there is, on the land or in the
premises to which the application relates, any document, equipment or thing
that may afford evidence as to the commission of an offence against this Act,
the Justice of the Peace may issue a warrant authorizing the officer, together
with any other person named in the warrant, to enter that land or those
premises, during such hours of the day or night as the warrant specifies or,
if the warrant so specifies, at any time, and to exercise any of his powers
under paragraph (1) (b).

(5) A warrant issued under sub-section (4) shall specify a day, being a day
not later than 7 days after the day on which the warrant is issued, as being
the day on which the warrant ceases to have effect, and the warrant shall
cease to have effect on the day so specified.

(6) A reference in this section to a document shall be read as including a
reference to-

   (a)  a disc, tape, paper, film or other device from which sounds or images
        are capable of being reproduced; and

(b) any other record of information.