58Conviction by courts of Secretaries of Departments etc.

##### 58 Conviction by courts of Secretaries of Departments etc. (1) Where: (a) a court has, after 15 September 1980, convicted an officer of a criminal offence or found, without recording a conviction, that such an officer has committed such an offence; and (b) the Board, after giving the officer an opportunity to furnish to it, in writing, any statement that he desires to furnish in relation to the offence, is of the opinion that, having regard to the nature and seriousness of the offence, the circumstances in which it was committed and the nature of the duties of the officer, it is justified in doing so in the interests of the Service; the Board may recommend to the Governor‑General that he take, in respect of the officer, action by way of: (c) transferring the officer to a specified office (whether at the same or a different locality), being an office for which the officer is qualified, and, if there is a salary range applicable to the office so specified, determining that he be paid a specified salary within that range; or (d) dismissing the officer from the Service. (2) The Board shall furnish to the Governor‑General with a recommendation under subsection (1) in relation to a criminal offence: (a) particulars of its reasons for making the recommendation; (b) a copy of any statement furnished to the Board in pursuance of paragraph (1)(b) in relation to the offence; and (c) any submission furnished to the Board in pursuance of subsection (3) in relation to the recommendation. (3) Before furnishing a recommendation to the Governor‑General under subsection (1) with respect to an officer, the Board shall inform the officer of the recommendation it proposes to furnish and afford the officer an opportunity to furnish to it any submission that the officer wishes the Governor‑General to consider in relation to the recommendation. (4) Where a recommendation has been furnished to the Governor‑General under subsection (1), the Governor‑General may, after consideration of the recommendation and of any documents furnished with it in pursuance of subsection (2): (a) take action of a kind specified in paragraph (1)(c) or (d) in respect of the officer, whether or not the Board recommended that he take action of that kind; or (b) decide not to take any action in respect of the officer. (5) Where the Governor‑General does not give effect to a recommendation furnished to him under subsection (1), a copy of a statement setting out his reasons for not giving effect to the recommendation shall be laid before each House of the Parliament within 14 sitting days of that House after he so decides. (6) The fact that action is, or is not, taken against an officer under this section in respect of a criminal offence shall not be taken to preclude the Board or another body, or a Secretary or another person, from having regard to the conviction or finding, to the nature and seriousness of the offence and to the circumstances in which the offence was committed in the course of exercising a power or performing a function conferred on it or him by this Act or by the regulations if those matters are relevant to the manner in which the power should be exercised or the function should be performed. (7) Nothing in subsection (6) shall be taken to authorize the charging of an officer under section 57, and the taking of action in respect of the officer under this section, in relation to the same matter.