52Commissioner may retain documents or things

52  Commissioner may retain documents or things

 (1) This section applies if a document or thing is:

 (a) produced to the Commissioner under section 31 or 33; or

 (b) otherwise given to the Commissioner for the purpose of assisting in the performance of the Commissioner’s functions or exercise of the Commissioner’s powers.

 (2) The Commissioner may:

 (a) inspect the document or thing; and

 (b) retain the document or thing for so long as is reasonably necessary for the purposes of the performance of the Commissioner’s functions or exercise of the Commissioner’s powers; and

 (c) make copies of the document or thing, or take extracts from the document.

 (3) While the Commissioner retains the document or thing, the Commissioner must allow a person who would otherwise be entitled to inspect the document or view the thing:

 (a) to do so at all reasonable times; and

 (b) to copy the document or thing.

 (4) Subsection (3) does not apply if:

 (a) possession of the document or thing by the person could constitute an offence; or

 (b) inspecting or copying the document or thing (as the case requires) would compromise or damage the document or thing; or

 (c) the Commissioner is satisfied that allowing the person to inspect the document or view the thing would prejudice an inquiry under Division 2 of Part 3.