New South Wales Consolidated Acts

CRIMINAL ASSETS RECOVERY ACT 1990 - SECT 47

47 Seizure of property

(1) An authorised officer executing a search warrant under this Division may do one or more of the following--

(a) examine property or evidence seized in executing the search warrant (the
"property or evidence" ),

(b) inspect and test the property or evidence,

(c) for property or evidence that is a document--make copies of, and take extracts from, the document,

(d) for property or evidence that is, or that might reasonably be suspected of being, held in or accessible from, a computer--give a direction to a person to give the authorised officer--

(i) information or assistance that is reasonable and necessary to enable the officer to access data held in, or accessible from, the computer, or

(ii) information or assistance reasonably necessary to allow the officer to--

(A) copy data from the computer to another computer, or

(B) convert the data into documentary form or another form intelligible to a computer used by the officer.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1)(d), the authorised officer may require the person to provide assistance in accessing data on a computer secured by biometric means, including, for example, fingerprints or retina scans.

(3) A search warrant issued under this Division is taken to authorise the seizure of a document or thing that the authorised officer executing the search warrant reasonably believes--

(a) will afford evidence of a criminal offence, whether under the law of this State or the Commonwealth or another State or a Territory, and

(b) is necessary to seize to prevent the concealment, loss or destruction of the document or thing.

(4) Self-incrimination is not a reasonable excuse for refusing to comply with a direction given under subsection (1)(d).

(5) To avoid doubt--

(a) information provided by a specified person under subsection (1) to access data held in, or accessible from, a computer may be used only forthat purpose and no other purpose, and

(b) this section is subject to any other provision of this Act or another Act that provides for how a police officer may take particulars that are necessary to identify a person.

(6) In this section--

"computer" means an electronic device for storing, processing or transferring information.