6—Insertion of Part 2 Division 4
Part 2—after Division 3 insert:
Division 4—Criminal intelligence
12—Criminal intelligence
(1) No information
provided by the Commissioner of Police to the Authority or the Commissioner
may be disclosed to any person (except the Minister, a court or a person to
whom the Commissioner of Police authorises its disclosure) if the information
is classified by the Commissioner of Police as criminal intelligence.
(2) If the
Commissioner—
(a)
refuses an application for a licence, consent or approval, or takes or
proposes to take disciplinary action against a licensee, or revokes or
proposes to revoke an approval; and
(b) the
decision to do so is made because of information that is classified by the
Commissioner of Police as criminal intelligence,
the Commissioner is not required to provide any grounds or reasons for the
decision other than that to grant the application would be contrary to the
public interest, or that it would be contrary to the public interest if the
licensee were to continue to be licensed, or that it would be contrary to the
public interest if the approval were to continue in force.
(3) In any proceedings
under this Act, the Commissioner—
(a)
must, on the application of the Commissioner of Police, take steps to maintain
the confidentiality of information classified by the Commissioner of Police as
criminal intelligence, including steps to receive evidence and hear argument
about the information in private in the absence of the parties to the
proceedings and their representatives; and
(b) may
take evidence consisting of or relating to information classified by the
Commissioner of Police as criminal intelligence by way of affidavit of a
police officer of or above the rank of superintendent.
(4) If the
Commissioner of Police lodges an objection to an application under this Act
because of information that is classified by the Commissioner of Police as
criminal intelligence—
(a) the
Commissioner of Police is not required to serve a copy of the notice of
objection on the applicant; and
(b) the
Commissioner must, at least 7 days before the day appointed for the hearing of
the application, advise the applicant in writing that the Commissioner of
Police has objected to the application on the ground that to grant the
application would be contrary to the public interest.
(5) The Commissioner
of Police may not delegate the function of classifying information as criminal
intelligence for the purposes of this Act except to a Deputy Commissioner or
Assistant Commissioner of Police.