170Magistrates Court may permit thing to be kept

170 Magistrates Court may permit thing to be kept (1) An inspector may apply to the Magistrates Court for an order that the inspector may keep the thing for a further period if a proceeding for which the thing may provide evidence has not begun before— (a) the end of 60 days after the day of the seizure; or (b) the end of a period previously stated in an order of the Magistrates Court under this section. (2) If the Magistrates Court is satisfied that it is necessary for an inspector to continue to keep the thing— (a) for an investigation about whether an offence against this Act has been committed; or (b) to allow evidence of an offence against this Act to be secured for a prosecution; the court may order that an inspector may keep the thing for a period (not longer than 3 years) stated in the order. (3) Before making the application, the inspector must— (a) take reasonable steps to discover who has an interest in the retention of the thing; and

(b) if it is practicable to do so, notify each person whom the inspector believes to have an interest of the proposed Note This section differs from the Commonwealth Act, s 170.