Western Australian Current Acts Western Australian Current Acts (1) An authority to
conduct a controlled operation may be granted —
(a) in
writing (a formal authority ); or
(b)
orally (an urgent authority ), if the authorising officer is satisfied that
the delay caused by granting a formal authority may affect the success of the
operation.
(2) A formal authority
must be in a physical form, signed by the authorising officer.
(3) However if it is
impracticable in the circumstances for a physical document to be delivered to
the applicant, a formal authority may take the form of —
(a) a
fax; or
(b) an
email or other electronic document, in which case the document need not be
signed.
(4) An urgent
authority may be granted in person, by telephone or any other electronic
means.
(5) Nothing in this
Division prevents an authority being granted in respect of a controlled
operation that has been the subject of a previous authority.
(6) An authority,
whether formal or urgent, must do all of the following —
(a)
state the name, and rank or position, of the person granting the authority;
(b)
identify the principal law enforcement officer and, if the principal law
enforcement officer is not the applicant for the authority, the name of the
applicant;
(c)
state whether the authority is for a cross-border controlled operation or a
local controlled operation;
(d) for
a cross-border controlled operation, state whether it is to be, or is likely
to be, conducted —
(i)
in this jurisdiction and in one or more participating
jurisdictions specified in the authority; or
(ii)
in one or more participating jurisdictions specified in
the authority;
(e)
state whether the authority is a formal authority or an urgent authority;
(f)
identify each person who may engage in controlled conduct for the purposes of
the controlled operation;
(g)
identify the nature of the criminal activity (including the suspected relevant
offences) in respect of which the controlled conduct is to be engaged in;
(h)
identify —
(i)
with respect to the law enforcement participants, the
nature of the controlled conduct that those participants may engage in; and
(ii)
with respect to the civilian participants, the particular
controlled conduct, if any, that each such participant may engage in;
(i)
identify (to the extent known) any suspect;
(j)
specify the period of validity of the authority, being a period not exceeding
6 months in the case of a formal authority or 7 days in the case of an urgent
authority;
(k)
specify any conditions to which the conduct of the operation is subject;
(l)
state the date and time when the authority is granted;
(m)
identify (to the extent known) —
(i)
the nature and quantity of any illicit goods that will be
involved in the operation; and
(ii)
the route through which those goods will pass in the
course of the operation.
(7) A person is
sufficiently identified for the purposes of subsection (6)(f) if the person is
identified —
(a) by
an assumed name under which the person is operating; or
(b) by a
code name or code number,
as long as the assumed
name, code name or code number can be matched to the person’s identity
by reference to records kept by the chief officer.
(8) The authorising
officer must, as soon as practicable after granting an urgent authority, make
a record in writing of the particulars referred to in subsection (6) relating
to the authority.