Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024
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Search of Garda Síochána premises | ||
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210. (1) Subject to this section, where a designated officer is appointed under section 208 (1) to undertake an investigation, any designated officer may, with the authorisation of the Police Ombudsman, apply to a judge of the District Court for a warrant to carry out a search of a Garda Síochána premises. | ||
(2) Before authorising the making of an application under subsection (1), the Police Ombudsman shall consult with the Garda Commissioner for the purpose of establishing if the Garda Commissioner objects to a search of a Garda Síochána premises for reasons relating to the security of the State. | ||
(3) A consultation under subsection (2) shall be confidential and the Garda Commissioner shall put in place procedures to ensure such consultation does not impair the integrity of investigations. | ||
(4) The Police Ombudsman may authorise the making of an application by a designated officer under subsection (1)— | ||
(a) where the Garda Commissioner does not object to a search of a Garda Síochána premises for the reasons referred to in subsection (2), or | ||
(b) on receipt under subsection (17)(a) of a direction under subsection (15). | ||
(5) An authorisation issued under subsection (4) shall be recorded in writing and the authorisation, or a copy thereof, shall, unless the contrary is shown, be evidence of the matters stated therein without further proof. | ||
(6) A designated officer shall include in his or her information on oath supporting an application under subsection (1)— | ||
(a) a copy of the authorisation issued by the Police Ombudsman under subsection (4), and | ||
(b) where relevant, a copy of a direction issued under subsection (15). | ||
(7) A judge of the District Court may, if satisfied by hearing evidence on oath by a designated officer that— | ||
(a) there is reasonable cause to suspect that a member of garda personnel who is the subject of an investigation is guilty of an offence, and | ||
(b) there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that evidence of, or relating to, the commission of the offence is to be found on a Garda Síochána premises or in the possession of any person to be found there, | ||
issue a search warrant for the search of that Garda Síochána premises in accordance with any direction under subsection (15). | ||
(8) A search warrant issued under subsection (7) shall authorise a named designated officer, accompanied by such other designated officers or persons, or both, as the named designated officer thinks necessary, to— | ||
(a) enter, within one week after the date specified on the warrant, the Garda Síochána premises specified therein, | ||
(b) search that premises and any persons found there, | ||
(c) seize any thing found on that premises, or found in the possession of a person present on the premises at the time of the search, that the designated officer or any other designated officer or person accompanying him or her reasonably believes to be evidence of, or relating to, the commission of the offence concerned, and | ||
(d) take any other steps which may appear to the designated officer or any other designated officer or person accompanying him or her to be necessary for preserving any such thing and preventing interference with it. | ||
(9) The authority conferred by subsection (8)(c) to seize any thing includes, in the case of a document or record, authority— | ||
(a) to make and retain a copy of the document or record, and | ||
(b) where necessary, to seize and, for as long as necessary, retain any computer or other storage medium in which any document or record is kept. | ||
(10) A designated officer acting under the authority of a warrant under this section may— | ||
(a) operate any computer at the Garda Síochána premises where the search is carried out or cause any such computer to be operated by any other designated officer or person accompanying the officer for that purpose, and | ||
(b) require any person at that premises who appears to the officer to have lawful access to the information in any such computer— | ||
(i) to give to the officer any password necessary to operate it, | ||
(ii) otherwise to enable the officer, any other designated officer or person accompanying him or her to examine the information accessible by the computer in a form in which the information is visible and legible, or | ||
(iii) to produce the information in a form in which it can be removed and in which it is, or can be made, visible and legible. | ||
(11) Where a designated officer has entered Garda Síochána premises in the execution of a warrant issued under subsection (7), he or she may seize any material, other than items subject to legal privilege, which is likely to be of substantial value (whether by itself or together with other material) to the investigation for the purpose of which the warrant was issued. | ||
(12) A designated officer acting under a search warrant issued under subsection (7) may— | ||
(a) require any person present at the Garda Síochána premises where the search is carried out to give to the officer his or her name and address, and | ||
(b) arrest without warrant any person who— | ||
(i) obstructs or attempts to obstruct the officer, or any other designated officer or person accompanying the officer, in carrying out his or her duties, | ||
(ii) fails to comply with a requirement under paragraph (a), or | ||
(iii) gives a name or address that the officer has reasonable cause for believing is false or misleading. | ||
(13) A person who— | ||
(a) obstructs or attempts to obstruct a designated officer, or any other designated officer or person accompanying the officer, acting under a search warrant issued under this section, | ||
(b) fails to comply with a requirement under subsection (12)(a), or | ||
(c) gives a false name or address to that officer in response to a requirement under subsection (12)(a), | ||
is guilty of an offence and is liable, on summary conviction, to a class C fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or both. | ||
(14) Where the Garda Commissioner objects to a search of a Garda Síochána premises for the reasons referred to in subsection (2), he or she shall, without delay, notify in writing the Police Ombudsman and the Independent Examiner of his or her objection for the purposes of a review of the objection under section 243 . | ||
(15) Upon receipt of a recommendation from the Independent Examiner under section 243 (4) in relation to a matter referred to in subsection (14), where the Minister is satisfied, taking into account the recommendation, that the search of a Garda Síochána premises— | ||
(a) would not be prejudicial to the security of the State, or | ||
(b) is proportionate and necessary for the proper investigation of a matter concerning the death of, or serious harm to, a person as a result of Garda operations or while in the care or custody of An Garda Síochána, | ||
he or she shall issue a direction specifying the Garda Síochána premises that may be the subject of an application under subsection (1). | ||
(16) A direction under subsection (15) may contain such conditions or restrictions relating to the search that the Minister considers necessary in the interests of the security of the State. | ||
(17) The Minister shall, as soon as practicable after— | ||
(a) issuing a direction under subsection (15), provide a copy of the direction to the Police Ombudsman and the Garda Commissioner, or | ||
(b) he or she decides not to issue a direction under that subsection, so inform the Police Ombudsman and the Garda Commissioner in writing. | ||
(18) In this section— | ||
“computer at the Garda Síochána premises where the search is carried out” includes any other computer, whether at that premises or at any other place, which is lawfully accessible by means of that computer; | ||
“search”, in relation to a search of a Garda Síochána premises pursuant to a warrant issued under subsection (7), includes a search of a vehicle on such a premises that is privately owned by a member of garda personnel; | ||
“seize”, in relation to any thing found on a Garda Síochána premises, includes a power to seize any thing found in a vehicle privately owned by a member of garda personnel that is on such a premises during the course of a search pursuant to a warrant issued under subsection (7). |