55Exercise of authority conferred by warrant

#### 55 Exercise of authority conferred by warrant (1) The authority conferred by a Part 2‑5 warrant may only be exercised by a person in relation to whom an approval under subsection (3) is in force in relation to the warrant. (3) The chief officer of an agency, or an officer of an agency in relation to whom an appointment under subsection (4) is in force, may approve any of the following persons to exercise the authority conferred by warrants (or classes of warrants) issued to the agency: (a) officers (or classes of officers) of the agency or another agency; (b) staff members (or classes of staff members) of the agency or another agency; (c) ASIO employees (or classes of ASIO employees); (d) persons assisting the Organisation in the performance of its functions. (4) The chief officer of an agency may appoint in writing an officer of the agency to be an approving officer for the purposes of subsection (3). (5) In spite of subsection (1), a designated officer, or an employee of a carrier, may provide technical assistance to a person who is exercising the authority conferred by a warrant. (6) A reference in subsection (5) to the provision of technical assistance includes a reference to: (a) the doing of any act involved in the interception of a communication under a warrant, to the extent that the act is incidental to the doing of an act referred to in paragraph (b); and (b) the doing of any act in connection with: (i) the installation of equipment for the purposes of intercepting a communication in accordance with a warrant; or (ii) the maintenance, testing or use of such equipment; or (iii) the removal of such equipment. (7) The chief officer of an agency or a person who is an approving officer for an agency under subsection (4) may, in writing, declare persons to be designated officers for the purposes of subsection (5). (8) To avoid doubt, the Organisation exercises authority under a warrant even if a person assisting the Organisation in the performance of its functions, who is not an ASIO employee, is approved to exercise that authority under paragraph (3)(d).