Statutes Amendment (Criminal Intelligence) Act 2012 (SA)

Case
No judgment structure available for this case.

South Australia

Statutes Amendment (Criminal Intelligence) Act 2012

An Act to amend the Casino Act 1997; the Firearms Act 1977; the Gaming Machines Act 1992; the Liquor Licensing Act 1997; the Police Act 1998; the Security and Investigation Agents Act 1995; and the Summary Offences Act 1953.

The Parliament of South Australia enacts as follows:

Part 1Preliminary1Short title

This Act may be cited as the Statutes Amendment (Criminal Intelligence) Act 2012.

2Commencement

This Act will come into operation on a day to be fixed by proclamation.

3Amendment provisions

In this Act, a provision under a heading referring to the amendment of a specified Act amends the Act so specified.

Part 2Amendment of Casino Act 19974Substitution of section 66A

Section 66A—delete the section and substitute:

66A—Procedure in relation to criminal intelligence

In any proceedings under this Part, the Authority or the Supreme Court—

  1. (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

  2. (b)

    may take evidence consisting of or relating to information that is so classified by the Commissioner of Police by way of affidavit of a police officer of or above the rank of superintendent.

5Amendment of section 69 – Confidentiality of criminal intelligence and other information provided by Commissioner of Police

Section 69(4)—delete subsection (4)

Part 3Amendment of Firearms Act 19776Amendment of section 5 – Interpretation

Section 5(1), definition of criminal intelligence—delete "or to enable the discovery of the existence or identity of a confidential source of information relevant to law enforcement" and substitute:

to enable the discovery of the existence or identity of a confidential source of information relevant to law enforcement or to endanger a person's life or physical safety

7Amendment of section 26C – Right of appeal to District Court

Section 26C(5) to (10)—delete subsections (5) to (10) (inclusive) and substitute:

  1. (5)

    On an appeal under this section, the Court—

    1. (a)

      must, on the application of the Registrar, take steps to maintain the confidentiality of information classified by the Registrar 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

    2. (b)

      may take evidence consisting of or relating to information so classified by the Registrar by way of affidavit of a police officer of or above the rank of superintendent.

Part 4Amendment of Gaming Machines Act 19928Amendment of section 3 – Interpretation

Section 3(1), definition of criminal intelligence—delete "or to enable the discovery of the existence or identity of a confidential source of information relevant to law enforcement" and substitute:

to enable the discovery of the existence or identity of a confidential source of information relevant to law enforcement or to endanger a person's life or physical safety

Part 5Amendment of Liquor Licensing Act 19979Amendment of section 28A – Criminal intelligence
  1. (1)

    Section 28A(5a) to (5h)—delete subsections (5a) to (5h) (inclusive) and substitute:

    1. (5a)

      In any proceedings under this Act, the Commissioner, the Court or the Supreme Court—

      1. (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

      2. (b)

        may take evidence consisting of or relating to information so classified by the Commissioner of Police by way of affidavit of a police officer of or above the rank of superintendent.

  2. (2)

    Section 28A(7)—delete subsection (7)

Part 6Amendment of Police Act 199810Insertion of section 74A

After section 74 insert:

74A—Special provisions relating to criminal intelligence

  1. (1)

    The Commissioner must establish guidelines in relation to the assessment of information that is being considered for classification as criminal intelligence and the management of criminal intelligence.

  2. (2)

    The Commissioner must ensure that records are kept in relation to the use of criminal intelligence.

  3. (3)

    The Commissioner must ensure that records referred to in subsection (2) would enable the following information to be determined for each period in relation to which a review is conducted under this section:

    1. (a)

      the number of matters in relation to which criminal intelligence was used during the period;

    2. (b)

      the number of individual pieces of criminal intelligence used in relation to each such matter;

    3. (c)

      the relevant statutory provision for each such matter.

  4. (4)

    The Attorney‑General must, before 1 July in each year (other than the calendar year in which this section comes into operation), appoint a retired judicial officer to conduct a review on—

    1. (a)

      the effectiveness of the guidelines established under subsection (1); and

    2. (b)

      the use of criminal intelligence,

during the period of 12 months preceding that 1 July.

  1. (5)

    The Commissioner must ensure that a person appointed to conduct a review is provided with such information as he or she may require for the purpose of conducting the review.

  2. (6)

    A person conducting a review has, in so doing, the powers of a commission of inquiry under the Royal Commissions Act 1917 (and any obligations under an Act to maintain the confidentiality of information do not apply with respect to the provision of such information to the person conducting the review).

  3. (7)

    A person conducting a review must maintain the confidentiality of criminal intelligence provided to the person.

  4. (8)

    A report on a review must be presented to the Attorney‑General on or before 30 September in each year.

  5. (9)

    The Attorney‑General must, within 12 sitting days after receipt of a report under this section, cause copies of the report to be laid before each House of Parliament.

  6. (10)

    In this section—

criminal intelligence means information classified by the Commissioner, in accordance with the provisions of any other Act, as criminal intelligence;

judicial officer means a person appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court or the District Court or a person appointed as judge of another State or Territory or of the Commonwealth.

Part 7Amendment of Security and Investigation Agents Act 199511Amendment of section 3 – Interpretation

Section 3, definition of criminal intelligence—delete "or to enable the discovery of the existence or identity of a confidential source of information relevant to law enforcement" and substitute:

to enable the discovery of the existence or identity of a confidential source of information relevant to law enforcement or to endanger a person's life or physical safety

Part 8Amendment of Summary Offences Act 195312Amendment of section 74BA – Interpretation

Section 74BA—after the definition of Court insert:

criminal intelligence means information relating to actual or suspected criminal activity (whether in this State or elsewhere) the disclosure of which could reasonably be expected to prejudice criminal investigations, to enable the discovery of the existence or identity of a confidential source of information relevant to law enforcement or to endanger a person's life or physical safety;

13Amendment of section 74BB – Fortification removal order

Section 74BB(5), (6), (7) and (8)—delete subsections (5), (6), (7) and (8)

14Amendment of section 74BC – Content of fortification removal order
  1. (1)

    Section 74BC(2)—delete "in respect of which an order has been made by the Court under section 74BB(5)" and substitute:

    the disclosure of which would be inconsistent with a decision of the Court under section 74BGA

  2. (2)

    Section 74BC(3)—delete "in breach of an order of the Court under section 74BB(5)" and substitute:

    inconsistent with a decision of the Court under section 74BGA

  3. (3)

    Section 74BC(4)—delete subsection (4) and substitute:

    1. (4)

      If disclosure of information included in the affidavit would be inconsistent with a decision of the Court under section 74BGA, an edited copy of the affidavit, from which the information that cannot be disclosed has been removed or erased, may be attached to the fortification removal order.

15Insertion of section 74BGA

After section 74BG insert:

74BGA—Criminal intelligence

In any proceedings under this Part, the court determining the proceedings—

  1. (a)

    must, on the application of the Commissioner, take steps to maintain the confidentiality of information classified by the Commissioner 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

  2. (b)

    may take evidence consisting of, or relating to, information that is so classified by the Commissioner by way of affidavit of a police officer of or above the rank of superintendent.

Actions
Download as PDF Download as Word Document
Cases Citing This Decision

0

Cases Cited

0

Statutory Material Cited

0