NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA
CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION (EXTRA-TERRITORIAL OFFENCES)
ACT 1985
As in force at 1 May 2016
Table of provisions
1 Short title ......................................................................................... 1
2 Commencement .............................................................................. 1
3 Interpretation ................................................................................... 1
3A Jurisdiction of Local Court ............................................................... 2
4 Issue of search warrants ................................................................. 3
5 Certain warrants not invalidated by misdescription, &c. .................. 4
6 Authority conferred by and other incidents of search warrant .......... 4
7 Ministerial arrangements for transmission and return of objects
seized under this Act or under corresponding law ........................... 5
8 Returned objects ............................................................................. 6
9 Protection of Commissioner............................................................. 7
10 Regulations...................................................................................... 7
ENDNOTES
NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA
As in force at 1 May 2016
CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION (EXTRA-TERRITORIAL OFFENCES)
ACT 1985
An Act to provide for the issue of search warrants for the investigation
in the Territory of certain offences against the law of a State or the
Australian Capital Territory, and for other purposes
1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the Criminal Investigation (Extra-territorial
Offences) Act 1985.
2 Commencement
This Act shall come into operation on a date to be fixed by the
Administrator by notice in the Gazette.
3 Interpretation
(1) In this Act:
appropriate authority means:
(a) in relation to a State – an authority exercising in relation to the
Police Force of that State functions corresponding to those of
the Commissioner of Police in relation to the Police Force of
the Northern Territory; or
(b) in relation to the Australian Capital Territory – the
Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police.
Commissioner means the Commissioner of Police appointed
under the Police Administration Act 1978.
corresponding law means a law of a State or of the Australian
Capital Territory declared under subsection (3) to be a
corresponding law.
object includes money and money's worth.
Criminal Investigation (Extra-territorial Offences) Act 1985 2
offence to which this Act applies means an indictable offence
against the law of a reciprocating State, being an offence arising
from an act, omission, event or state of affairs which, if done or
occurring in the Territory, would attract criminal liability under the
law of the Territory.
owner, in relation to an object, includes a person entitled to
possession of the object.
premises means a building, structure or place (whether built upon
or not and whether enclosed or unenclosed) and includes an
aircraft, vessel and vehicle.
reciprocating State means a State or the Australian Capital
Territory, or another Territory:
(a) in which a corresponding law is in force; and
(b) in relation to which arrangements are in force under section 7.
search warrant means a warrant under this Act authorizing a
search of premises or a person.
State means a State of the Commonwealth.
telephone includes any telecommunication device.
(2) For the purposes of this Act:
(a) a thing obtained by the commission of an offence, used for the
purpose of committing an offence, or in respect of which an
offence has been committed;
(b) a thing that may afford evidence of the commission of an
offence; or
(c) a thing intended to be used for the purpose of committing an
offence,
is an object relevant to the investigation of the offence.
(3) The Administrator may, by notice in the Gazette, declare a law of a
State or of the Australian Capital Territory to be a corresponding
law.
3A Jurisdiction of Local Court
The jurisdiction conferred on the Local Court under this Act is part
of the Court's criminal jurisdiction.
Criminal Investigation (Extra-territorial Offences) Act 1985 3
4 Issue of search warrants
(1) Where, on the application of a member of the Police Force, a Local
Court Judge is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to
believe that:
(a) an offence to which this Act applies has been, is being or is
intended to be, committed; and
(b) there is in or on premises, or on a person, an object relevant
to the investigation of that offence,
the Judge may issue a search warrant in respect of those premises
or that person or both.
(2) Subject to subsection (4), an application for the issue of a search
warrant may be made either personally or by telephone.
(3) The grounds of an application for a search warrant shall be verified
by affidavit.
(4) An application for the issue of a search warrant shall not be made
by telephone unless, in the opinion of the applicant, it is
impracticable for the applicant to make the application personally.
(5) Where an application for the issue of a search warrant is made by
telephone:
(a) the applicant shall inform the Judge of his name, and of his
rank and number in the Police Force, and the Judge, on
receiving that information, is entitled to assume, without
further inquiry, that the applicant is a member of the Police
Force;
(b) the applicant shall inform the Judge of the grounds on which
he seeks the issue of the search warrant;
(c) if it appears to the Judge from the information furnished by the
applicant that there are proper grounds for the issue of a
search warrant, he shall inform the applicant of the facts on
which he relies as grounds for the issue of the warrant and
shall not proceed to issue the warrant unless the applicant
undertakes to make an affidavit verifying those facts;
(d) if the applicant gives such an undertaking, the Judge may then
make out, and sign a search warrant, noting on the warrant
the facts on which he relies as grounds for the issue of the
warrant;
Criminal Investigation (Extra-territorial Offences) Act 1985 4
(e) the search warrant shall be deemed to have been issued, and
shall come into force, when signed by the Judge;
(f) the Judge shall inform the applicant of the terms of the search
warrant; and
(g) the applicant shall, as soon as practicable after the issue of
the search warrant, forward to the Judge an affidavit verifying
the facts referred to in paragraph (c).
(6) A Local Court Judge who issues a search warrant under this
section shall file the warrant, or a copy of the warrant, and the
affidavit verifying the grounds on which the application for the
warrant was made, in the Local Court.
5 Certain warrants not invalidated by misdescription, &c.
A search warrant issued as the result of an application by telephone
shall be valid and effective notwithstanding a technical defect in the
warrant, including:
(a) a clerical error;
(b) an evident material miscalculation of figures; and
(c) an evident material mistake in the description of premises, a
person or a thing.
6 Authority conferred by and other incidents of search warrant
(1) A search warrant authorizes any member of the Police Force, with
such assistance as he thinks necessary:
(a) to enter and search the premises to which the warrant relates
and any thing in or on those premises; or
(b) to search any person to whom the warrant relates.
(2) A member of the Police Force, or a person assisting him, may use
such force as is reasonably necessary for the execution of a search
warrant.
(3) A member of the Police Force executing a search warrant may
seize and remove any object that he believes, on reasonable
grounds, to be relevant to the investigation of the offence in relation
to which the warrant was issued.
(4) An object seized and removed under subsection (3) shall be dealt
with in accordance with arrangements in force under section 7.
Criminal Investigation (Extra-territorial Offences) Act 1985 5
(5) A member of the Police Force who executes a search warrant:
(a) shall prepare a notice, in the prescribed form, containing:
(i) his name and rank;
(ii) the name of the Local Court Judge who issued the
warrant and the date and time of its issue; and
(iii) a description of all objects seized and removed in
pursuance of the warrant; and
(b) shall, as soon as practicable after execution of the warrant,
give the notice to the occupier of the premises in relation to
which the warrant was issued or leave it for him in a prominent
position on those premises and where a person is searched in
pursuance of the warrant, he shall give a copy of the notice to
that person.
(6) A search warrant, if not executed before the expiration of 28 days
after the date of its issue or, in the case of a search warrant issued
as the result of an application by telephone, 14 days after the date
of its issue, shall on the expiration of that period expire.
7 Ministerial arrangements for transmission and return of
objects seized under this Act or under corresponding law
The Minister may enter into arrangements with a minister
responsible for the administration of a corresponding law under
which objects seized under:
(a) this Act that may be relevant to the investigation of an offence
against the law of the State or Territory in which the
corresponding law is in force:
(i) are to be transmitted to the appropriate authority in that
State or Territory for the purposes of investigation of, or
proceedings in relation to, that offence; and
(ii) when no longer required for the purposes of such
investigation or proceedings, are (unless disposed of by
order or direction of a court) to be returned to the
Commissioner; and
(b) the corresponding law that may be relevant to the
investigation of an offence against the law of the Territory:
(i) are to be transmitted to the Commissioner; and
Criminal Investigation (Extra-territorial Offences) Act 1985 6
(ii) when no longer required for the purposes of
investigation of an offence, or proceedings in relation to
an offence, are (unless disposed of by order or direction
of a court) to be returned to the appropriate authority in
the State or Territory in which they were seized.
8 Returned objects
(1) Where an object seized under this Act and transmitted to the
appropriate authority under an arrangement referred to in section 7
is returned to the Commissioner in pursuance of that arrangement,
the Commissioner shall, within 28 days after he received the object,
by notice in writing, require the person from whom the object was
seized, or a person appearing to the Commissioner to be the owner
of the object, to claim delivery to him of the object.
(2) If no claim is made within 21 days after the service of the notice
under subsection (1), or within the 28 days referred to in
subsection (1) the person from whom the object was seized or
person who appears to the Commissioner to be the owner cannot,
after reasonable inquiry, be located the object is forfeited to the
Territory.
(3) Where a person served with a notice under subsection (1) makes a
claim for the delivery to him of an object to which the notice relates
the Commissioner shall:
(a) where the object is required by the Commissioner in
connection with the investigation of an offence – retain the
object for that purpose; and
(b) in any other case:
(i) return the object to the claimant; or
(ii) refer the claim to the Local Court;
and advise the claimant, in writing, accordingly.
(4) The Local Court may deal with a claim referred under
subsection (3)(b)(ii) to it as if it were a claim made by a claimant of
property under section 130B of the Local Court (Criminal
Procedure) Act 1928.
(5) All objects forfeited to the Territory under this section may be sold,
destroyed or disposed of in such manner as is prescribed or, where
no manner is prescribed, as the Commissioner thinks fit.
Criminal Investigation (Extra-territorial Offences) Act 1985 7
9 Protection of Commissioner
A criminal proceeding does not lie against the Commissioner for or
in respect of an act or thing done or omitted to be done in good faith
by him in his capacity as Commissioner in the exercise or purported
exercise of a power under section 8.
10 Regulations
The Administrator may make regulations, not inconsistent with this
Act, prescribing matters:
(a) required or permitted by this Act to be prescribed; or
(b) necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or
giving effect to this Act.
ENDNOTES
Criminal Investigation (Extra-territorial Offences) Act 1985 8
ENDNOTES
1 KEY
Key to abbreviations
amd = amended od = order
app = appendix om = omitted
bl = by-law pt = Part
ch = Chapter r = regulation/rule
cl = clause rem = remainder
div = Division renum = renumbered
exp = expires/expired rep = repealed
f = forms s = section
Gaz = Gazette sch = Schedule
hdg = heading sdiv = Subdivision
ins = inserted SL = Subordinate Legislation
lt = long title sub = substituted
nc = not commenced
2 LIST OF LEGISLATION
Criminal Investigation (Extra-Territorial Offences) Act 1985 (Act No. 56, 1985)
Assent date 9 December 1985
Commenced 1 January 1986 (Gaz S7, 16 December 1985)
Police Administration Amendment (Powers and Liability) Act 2005 (Act No. 11, 2005)
Assent date 17 March 2005
Commenced 20 April 2005 (Gaz G16, 20 April 2005, p 5)
Local Court (Related Amendments) Act 2016 (Act No. 8, 2016)
Assent date 6 April 2016
Commenced 1 May 2016 (s 2, s 2 Local Court (Repeals and Related
Amendments) Act 2016 (Act No. 9, 2016) and Gaz S34,
29 April 2016)
3 GENERAL AMENDMENTS
General amendments of a formal nature (which are not referred to in the table
of amendments to this reprint) are made by the Interpretation Legislation
Amendment Act 2018 (Act No. 22 of 2018) to: ss 1, 3 and 8.
4 LIST OF AMENDMENTS
s 3A ins No. 8, 2016, s 17
s 4 amd No. 8, 2016, s 18
s 6 amd No. 8, 2016, s 19
s 8 amd No. 8, 2016, s 20
s 9 amd No. 11, 2005, s 17