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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

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

You could also call this:

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

The Governor-General can approve a law enforcement agency, other than the Police, to carry out visual trespass surveillance or use interception devices. You need to know that this approval is made by an Order in Council, which is recommended by the Minister of Justice. The Minister of Justice makes this recommendation after talking to the Minister of Police.

The Minister of Justice will only recommend this approval if they think it is a good idea for the agency to do this work, and if the agency has the right skills and rules in place. This is so the surveillance can be done safely and correctly. The agency must be able to intercept private communications reliably and keep the information safe.

If the agency wants to use interception devices, they must be able to extract evidence from the information they get, and present it to the court in the right way. The Minister of Justice can approve agencies like the New Zealand Customs Service or the Department of Internal Affairs to do this work. An order under this section is secondary legislation, see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM3330214.

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

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

  1. The Governor-General may, by Order in Council made on the recommendation of the Minister of Justice, approve a specified law enforcement agency other than the Police to do either or both of the following:

  2. to carry out visual trespass surveillance:
    1. to use interception devices.

      1. The Minister of Justice may recommend the making of an Order in Council under subsection (1)(a), following consultation with the Minister of Police, if he or she is satisfied that it is appropriate for the agency to carry out visual trespass surveillance, and that the agency has the technical capability, and the policies and procedures in place, so that the surveillance can be carried out in a manner that ensures the safety of the people involved in the surveillance.

      2. The Minister of Justice may recommend the making of an Order in Council under subsection (1)(b), following consultation with the Minister of Police, if he or she is satisfied that it is appropriate for the agency to use interception devices, and that the agency has—

      3. the technical capability to intercept private communications in a manner that ensures the reliability of any information obtained through the use of an interception device; and
        1. policies and procedures in place to ensure that the integrity of any information obtained through the use of an interception device is preserved; and
          1. the expertise—
            1. to extract evidential material from information obtained through the use of an interception device in a form that can be used in a criminal proceeding; and
              1. to ensure that any evidential material obtained through the use of an interception device is presented to the court in an appropriate manner, when the agency intends to proceed with a prosecution.

              2. In this section, specified law enforcement agency means—

              3. the New Zealand Customs Service; or
                1. the Department of Internal Affairs.

                  1. An order under this section is secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements).

                  Notes
                  • Section 50(5): inserted, on , by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).