544Power to use equipment to examine or process a thing

544 Power to use equipment to examine or process a thing

544 Power to use equipment to examine or process a thing

(1) An authorised officer, or a person helping an authorised officer, may operate equipment at a place, or in a vehicle, entered under this Chapter to examine or process a thing found at the place, or in the vehicle, in order to decide whether it is a thing that may be seized under this Chapter.

(2) Also, for a heavy vehicle entered under section 521, an authorised officer, or a person helping the authorised officer, may, for deciding whether a thing may be seized under section 547—

(a) operate equipment in the vehicle to examine or process the thing; or

(b) move the thing to another place if it is not practicable to examine or process the thing where it is found, or the vehicle’s driver consents in writing, and operate equipment at that place to examine or process the thing.

(3) However, subsections (1) and (2) only apply if the authorised officer or person reasonably believes—

(a) the equipment is suitable for exercising the power; and

(b) the power can be exercised without damaging the equipment or thing.

(4) In this section—

equipment, at a place or in a vehicle, includes equipment taken into the place or vehicle by the authorised officer.