90CPersonal searches

90C Personal searches

[Section 90C Inserted by No. 27 of 1984, s. 42 ]

(1)  *[Section 90C Subsection (1) amended by No. 5 of 1990, s. 3 and Sched. 1 ]*Where, pursuant to section 90A or 90B , an inspector or a police officer detains a person for the purpose of search, the following provisions apply:

(a) if a strip search is to be carried out on a female, that search shall be carried out by a female police officer;

(b) if a strip search is to be carried out on a male, that search shall be carried out by a male police officer;

(c) if the inspector or police officer suspects on reasonable grounds that a raw narcotic, narcotic substance, prohibited substance, section 36 substance, or prohibited plant may be present in the cavities of that person's body and wishes to determine the presence or absence of the narcotic, substance, or plant in those cavities, he shall cause that person to be brought before a magistrate;

(d) on a person being brought before a magistrate in accordance with paragraph (c) , the magistrate shall either –

(i) make an order in writing that the cavities of that person's body which are specified in that order shall be searched by a specified medical practitioner; or

(ii) refuse to make such an order;

(e) if the search involves the application of force to the person – the inspector or police officer shall, within 7 days after effecting the search, deliver to the Secretary or, as the case may be, to the Commissioner of Police a report in writing giving full particulars of the search, including particulars of the circumstances which gave rise to the application of force.

(2)  For the purposes of subsection (1) –

(a) cavities of a person's body means the vagina and rectum of that person;

(b) strip search means a search, other than a cavity search ordered by a magistrate under subsection (1) (d) , in which the person to be searched is required to remove most or all of his clothing.