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Search and Surveillance Act 2012

Enforcement officers' powers and orders - Surveillance device warrants and declaratory orders - Application for surveillance device warrant

49: Application for surveillance device warrant

You could also call this:

"How to apply for a special permit to use a surveillance device to gather information"

Illustration for Search and Surveillance Act 2012

You can apply for a surveillance device warrant if you are an enforcement officer. You must include certain details in your application, such as your name and the reason for the application. You can find more information about the provision authorising the making of an application for a search warrant in section 51(a)(i). You need to say what offence you think has been committed and what kind of surveillance device you want to use. You must also describe the person, place, or thing you want to surveil and what you hope to find out. If you cannot provide all the information, you must explain how you plan to do the surveillance. You must tell the court about any other applications for a search warrant or surveillance device warrant you have made in the past three months. You must also say what happened with those applications. In some cases, only a constable or certain enforcement officers can apply for a surveillance device warrant, and they must follow specific rules, such as those outlined in an Order in Council made under section 50. Before you apply, you must make sure you have all the necessary information from your agency.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM2136703.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Police and safetyCrime and justice > Courts and legal help
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48: Surveillance device warrant need not be obtained for use of surveillance device in some situations of emergency or urgency, or

"No warrant needed in emergencies for surveillance devices to prevent serious crimes."

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50: Approval of law enforcement agencies other than Police to carry out visual trespass surveillance and use interception devices, or

"Who can spy on people besides the Police, and how they get permission to do it"

Part 3Enforcement officers' powers and orders
Surveillance device warrants and declaratory orders: Application for surveillance device warrant

49Application for surveillance device warrant

  1. An application for a surveillance device warrant may be made only by an enforcement officer, and must contain, in reasonable detail, the following particulars:

  2. the name of the applicant:
    1. the provision authorising the making of an application for a search warrant in respect of the suspected offence (see section 51(a)(i)):
      1. the grounds on which the application is made:
        1. the suspected offence in relation to which the surveillance device warrant is sought:
          1. the type of surveillance device to be used:
            1. the name, address, or other description of the person, place, vehicle, or other thing that is the object of the proposed surveillance:
              1. a description of the evidential material believed to be able to be obtained by use of the surveillance device:
                1. the period for which the warrant is sought.

                  1. If the enforcement officer cannot provide all the information required under subsection (1)(f) and (g), the application must instead state the circumstances in which the surveillance is proposed to be undertaken in enough detail to identify the parameters of, and objectives to be achieved by, the proposed use of the surveillance device.

                  2. The applicant must disclose in the application—

                  3. the details of any other applications for a search warrant or a surveillance device warrant that the applicant knows to have been made within the previous 3 months in respect of the person, place, vehicle, or other thing proposed as the object of the surveillance; and
                    1. the result of that application or those applications.

                      1. The applicant must, before making an application for a surveillance device warrant, make reasonable inquiries within the agency in which the applicant is employed or engaged for the purpose of complying with subsection (3).

                      2. Despite subsection (1), an application for a surveillance device warrant seeking authority to use visual trespass surveillance or an interception device may only be made by—

                      3. a constable; or
                        1. an enforcement officer employed or engaged by a law enforcement agency that has been approved by an Order in Council made under section 50.

                          Notes
                          • Section 49(1)(b): amended, on , by section 7 of the Budapest Convention and Related Matters Legislation Amendment Act 2025 (2025 No 39).