Nuclear Test Ban Act 2008

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Powers of authorised officer.

9.— (1) For the purposes of this Act and the Treaty, an authorised officer may—

(a) subject to subsection (4), enter (if necessary by the use of reasonable force), at all reasonable times, any place at which—

(i) he or she has reasonable grounds for believing that information or documentation to which a notice under section 11 applies, or books, records or other documents (including documents stored in non-legible form) relating to matters to which this Act applies, are kept,

(ii) he or she has reasonable grounds for believing that an offence under this Act is being or has been committed, or

(iii) an on-site investigation is being conducted,

(b) at such place inspect and take copies of, any books, records, other documents (including documents stored in non-legible form) or extracts therefrom, which he or she finds in the course of his or her inspection,

(c) remove any such books, records or documents from such place and retain them for such period as he or she reasonably considers to be necessary for the purposes of his or her functions under this Act,

(d) inspect and take copies of or extracts from any electronic information system kept at the place and remove and retain any equipment used in such system, including but not limited to computers, hard drives and portable storage media for such period as he or she reasonably considers to be necessary for the purposes of his or her functions under this Act,

(e) carry out, or cause to be carried out, such examinations, tests, inspections and checks of—

(i) the place,

(ii) any container, product, article or substance, found at the place, or

(iii) any equipment, machinery or plant found at the place,

as he or she reasonably considers to be necessary for the purposes of his or her functions under this Act,

(f) require any person at the place or the owner or person in charge of the place and any person employed there to give to him or her such assistance and information and to produce to him or her such books, documents or other records (and in the case of documents or records stored in non-legible form, produce to him or her a legible reproduction thereof) that are in that person’s power or procurement, as he or she may reasonably require for the purposes of his or her functions under this Act,

(g) take samples of any product, article or substance found at the place for the purposes of analysis and examination,

(h) direct that such containers, products, articles or substances found at the place as he or she, upon reasonable grounds, believes are being used for the purposes of contravening a provision of this Act, not be sold or distributed or moved from the place, without his or her consent,

(i) secure for later inspection any place or part of any place for such period as may reasonably be necessary for the purposes of his or her functions under this Act,

(j) take possession of and remove from the place for examination and analysis any container, product, article or substance found there and retain it for such period as he or she considers reasonably necessary for the purposes of his or her functions under this Act,

(k) take, or cause to be taken, photographs of the place or of any thing found at the place,

(l) install, use and maintain at the premises such monitoring instruments, systems and seals as are necessary or expedient for the purposes of ensuring compliance with this Act or the Treaty or the prevention of an offence under this Act,

(m) require any person at the place or the owner or person in charge of the place or any person employed there to supply without payment samples of any product or any article or substance used in the manufacture of a product found at the place for test, examination or analysis,

(n) dismantle or subject to any process or test any product, or any article or substance used in the manufacture of any product, found at the place,

(o) take possession of any container, product, article or substance found at the place and retain it for such period as is necessary to—

(i) enable its examination,

(ii) ensure that it is not tampered with before the examination is complete, or

(iii) ensure that it is available to be adduced as evidence in any proceedings,

(p) require any person at the place or the owner or person in charge of the place and any person employed therein to afford the authorised officer such facilities within the person’s power as he or she may require for the purposes of his or her functions under this Act.

(2) Before exercising the power conferred by subsection (1)(j) in the case of any container, product, article or substance, an authorised officer shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, consult such persons as appear to him or her to be appropriate for the purposes of ascertaining what danger, if any, there may be in doing anything that he or she proposes to do under that power.

(3) When performing a function under this Act, an authorised officer may, subject to any warrant under subsection (5), be accompanied by such number of authorised officers or members of the Garda Síochána as he or she considers appropriate.

(4) Subject to subsection (10), an authorised officer shall not enter a dwelling, other than—

(a) with the consent of the occupier, or

(b) in accordance with a warrant issued under subsection (5).

(5) Upon the application of an authorised officer, a judge of the District Court may, if satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that—

(a) information or documentation to which a notice under section 11 applies, or books, records or other documents (including documents stored in non-legible form) relating to matters to which this Act applies are to be found,

(b) evidence of the commission of an offence under this Act is to be found, or

(c) a product, article or substance that an authorised officer requires to inspect for the purposes of this Act is to be found,

at the dwelling to which the application relates, issue a warrant authorising a named authorised officer accompanied by such other authorised officers or members of the Garda Síochána as may be necessary, at any time or times, within one month of the date of issue of the warrant, to enter the dwelling (if necessary by the use of reasonable force) and perform the functions of an authorised officer under paragraphs (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), (i), (j), (k), (l), (m), (n), (o) and (p) of subsection (1).

(6) Where an authorised officer, upon reasonable grounds, believes that a person has committed an offence under this Act, he or she may require that person to provide him or her with his or her name and the address at which he or she ordinarily resides.

(7) A person who falsely represents himself or herself to be an authorised officer shall be guilty of an offence.

(8) Any person who obstructs or interferes with an authorised officer or a member of the Garda Síochána in the course of exercising a power conferred on him or her by this Act or a warrant under subsection (5) or impedes the exercise by the officer or member, as the case may be, of such power or fails or refuses to comply with a request or requirement of, or to answer a question asked by, the officer or member pursuant to this section, or in purported compliance with such request or requirement or in answer to such question gives information to the officer or member that he or she knows to be false or misleading in any material respect, shall be guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or both.

(9) A statement or admission made by a person pursuant to a requirement under subsection (1)(f) shall not be admissible as evidence in proceedings brought against that person for an offence (other than an offence under subsection (8)).

(10) A warrant under subsection (5) shall not be required for the exercise by an authorised officer of any power under this section if, by reason of exigent circumstances, it would not be practicable for the authorised officer to apply for and obtain such a warrant.

(11) In this section “record” includes, in addition to a record in writing—

(a) a disc, tape, sound-track or other device in which information, sounds or signals are embodied so as to be capable (with or without the aid of some other instrument) of being reproduced in legible or audible form,

(b) a film, tape or other device in which visual images are embodied so as to be capable (with or without the aid of some other instrument) of being reproduced in visual form, and

(c) a photograph,

and any reference to a copy of a record includes—

(i) in the case of a record to which paragraph (a) applies, a transcript of the sounds or signals embodied therein,

(ii) in the case of a record to which paragraph (b) applies, a still reproduction of the images embodied therein, and

(iii) in the case of a record to which paragraphs (a) and (b) apply, such a transcript and such a still reproduction.