s 17H Power to obtain information
17H.—(1) Whenever the chief executive officer or an authorised investigating officer has reasonable cause to suspect that a person (called in this section the relevant person) is committing or has committed an arrestable offence under this Part, the chief executive officer or authorised investigating officer —(a) has at all times full and free access to all buildings and places at which the relevant person is suspected of committing or having committed the arrestable offence; (b) has at all times full and free access to the documents, computers, computer programs and computer software (whether installed in a computer or otherwise) that are suspected of being used or having been used in connection with, or containing or having contained evidence relating to, the arrestable offence; (c) has access to any information, code or technology which has the capability of retransforming or unscrambling encrypted data contained in or available to such computers into readable and comprehensive format or text; (d) is entitled —(i) to inspect, copy or make extracts from any such document, computer, computer program, computer software or computer output without fee or reward; and (ii) at any reasonable time to inspect and check the operation of any computer, device, apparatus or material that is suspected of being used or having been used in connection with the arrestable offence; (e) may take possession of any such document, computer, device, apparatus, material, computer program or computer software if in his or her opinion —(i) the inspection, checking, copying or extraction cannot reasonably be performed without taking possession; (ii) any such items may be interfered with or destroyed unless possession is taken; or (iii) any such items may be required as evidence in proceedings for an offence under this Part; (f) is entitled to require —(i) the person by whom or on whose behalf the computer is or has been used, or any person having charge of, or otherwise concerned with the operation of the computer, device, apparatus or material to provide the chief executive officer or authorised investigating officer with any reasonable assistance that the chief executive officer or authorised investigating officer may require for the investigation of the arrestable offence; and (ii) any person in possession of decryption information to grant the chief executive officer or authorised investigating officer access to any decryption information necessary to decrypt data required for the investigation of the arrestable offence; and (g) is entitled to require a person in or at the building or place, and who appears to the chief executive officer or authorised investigating officer to be acquainted with any facts or circumstances that are relevant to the investigation of the arrestable offence, to do one or both of the following:(i) answer any question to the best of the person’s knowledge, information and belief; (ii) take reasonable steps to produce a document for inspection. (2) Subject to subsection (3), the chief executive officer or a specially authorised officer may, for the purpose of investigating an arrestable offence under this Part, break open any outer or inner door or window, or use any other reasonable means, to gain entry to a building or place. (3) The chief executive officer or specially authorised officer may only exercise the power under subsection (2) if —(a) he or she has reason to believe that there is in that building or place any document or thing that may be, or that contains information that may be —(i) relevant to the investigation of the arrestable offence; or (ii) required as evidence in proceedings for the arrestable offence being investigated; (b) he or she has reason to believe that the document or thing is likely to be concealed, removed or destroyed, or the information is likely to be deleted, by any person; and (c) he or she is unable to gain entry to that building or place after stating his or her authority and purpose and demanding such entry. (4) To avoid doubt, the chief executive officer or a specially authorised officer who has gained entry to a building or place by exercising his or her power under subsection (2) for the purpose of investigating an arrestable offence under this Part may exercise any of his or her powers under subsection (1) after such entry for the purpose of that investigation. (5) The chief executive officer or a specially authorised officer may, after gaining entry to a building or place under subsection (1) or (2) for the purpose of investigating an arrestable offence under this Part, search or cause to be searched a person found in the building or place for any document or thing which may be relevant to the investigation of the arrestable offence, or is required as evidence in proceedings for that arrestable offence. (6) A woman must not be searched except by a woman. (7) A person is not obliged under this section to disclose (including through the production of a document) —(a) any information that the person is under any statutory obligation (other than sections 128, 128A, 129 and 131 of the Evidence Act 1893) to observe secrecy; or (b) any information subject to legal privilege. (8) The chief executive officer or an authorised investigating officer may by written notice given to a person, require the person to give —(a) orally or in writing; or (b) with the prior written consent of the person, through the electronic service, a document or any information that is relevant to an investigation of, or the prosecution of a person for, an offence under this Part. (9) The time for compliance with a written notice under subsection (8) is 21 days after the date of service of the notice or any other period that the chief executive officer or authorised investigating officer considers appropriate. (10) The chief executive officer or an authorised investigating officer may by written notice require any person to attend personally before the chief executive officer or authorised investigating officer, at the place and time specified in the notice, to do one or both of the following:(a) provide, to the best of that person’s knowledge, information and belief, any information that is relevant to an investigation of, or the prosecution of a person for, an offence under this Part; (b) take reasonable steps to produce for inspection any document that contains such information. (11) The power to require a person to provide information or produce a document under subsection (1)(g) or (8), or when in attendance before the chief executive officer or an authorised investigating officer pursuant to a written notice under subsection (10), includes the power —(a) to require that person, or any person who is or was an officer or employee of that person, to provide an explanation of the information or document; (b) if the information is not provided or the document is not produced, to require that person to state, to the best of the person’s knowledge and belief, where it is; (c) if the information is recorded otherwise than in legible form, to require the information to be made available to the chief executive officer or authorised investigating officer (as the case may be) in legible form; and (d) in the case of a document, to inspect, copy or make extracts from the document without fee or reward, and to take possession of the document if, in the chief executive officer’s or authorised investigating officer’s opinion —(i) the inspection, copying or extraction cannot reasonably be performed without taking possession of the document; (ii) the document may be interfered with or destroyed unless possession of the document is taken; or (iii) the document may be required as evidence in proceedings for an offence under this Part. (12) A statement made by any person asked under subsection (1)(g)(i), or when in attendance before the chief executive officer or an authorised investigating officer pursuant to a written notice under subsection (10), must —(a) be reduced to writing; (b) be read over to the person; (c) if the person does not understand English, be interpreted for the person in a language that the person understands; and (d) be signed by the person. (13) Any person who, without reasonable excuse, contravenes any notice or requirement of the chief executive officer or an authorised investigating officer under this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction —(a) to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both; and (b) in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $100 for every day or part of a day during which the offence continues after conviction. (14) The generality of the term “reasonable excuse” in subsection (13) is not affected by subsection (7). (15) Any person who, without reasonable excuse, hinders or obstructs the chief executive officer or an authorised investigating officer in the performance or execution of his or her duties or of anything that he or she is empowered or required to do under this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both. (16) Except as provided under subsection (7), it is not a defence to a charge under subsection (13) for a failure to provide any information or produce any document under any notice or requirement under this section, that the person is under a duty of secrecy in respect of that information or the contents of that document (called in this section a displaced duty of secrecy). (17) A person who in good faith complies with any notice or requirement under this section is not treated as being in breach of a displaced duty of secrecy. (18) No civil or criminal action for a breach of a displaced duty of secrecy, other than a criminal action for an offence under subsection (19), lies against the person mentioned in subsection (17) —(a) for producing any document or providing any information if the person had done so in good faith in compliance with the notice or requirement under this section; or (b) for doing or omitting to do any act if the person had done or omitted to do the act in good faith and as a result of complying with the notice or requirement under this section. (19) Any person who, in purported compliance with a notice or requirement of the chief executive officer or an authorised investigating officer under this section, produces any document which contains any information, or provides any information, known to the person to be false or misleading in a material particular —(a) without indicating to the chief executive officer or the authorised investigating officer that the information is false or misleading and the part that is false or misleading; and (b) without providing correct information to the chief executive officer or the authorised investigating officer if the person is in possession of, or can reasonably acquire, the correct information, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both. (20) In this section —“advocate and solicitor” means an advocate and solicitor within the meaning of the Legal Profession Act 1966; “arrestable offence” means an offence for which the chief executive officer or a specially authorised officer may ordinarily arrest without warrant under section 17I(1); “computer” and “computer output” have the meanings given by section 2(1) of the Computer Misuse Act 1993; “document” includes, in addition to a document in writing —(a) any map, plan, graph or drawing; (b) any photograph; (c) any label, marking or other writing which identifies or describes anything of which it forms a part, or to which it is attached by any means; (d) any disc, tape, soundtrack or other device in which sounds or other data (not being visual images) are embodied so as to be capable (with or without the aid of some other equipment) of being reproduced from it; (e) any film (including microfilm), negative, tape, disc or other device in which one or more visual images are embodied so as to be capable (with or without the aid of some other equipment) of being reproduced from it; and (f) any paper or other material on which there are marks, impressions, figures, letters, symbols or perforations having a meaning for persons qualified to interpret them; “information subject to legal privilege” means —(a) communications between an advocate and solicitor and his or her client or any person representing his or her client made in connection with the giving of legal advice to the client; and (b) communications between —(i) an advocate and solicitor and his or her client or any person representing his or her client; or (ii) an advocate and solicitor or his or her client or any person representing his or her client, and any other person, made in connection with, or in contemplation of, judicial proceedings and for the purposes of such proceedings, when such communications are in the possession of a person who is entitled to possession of them, but excluding, in any case, any communications made with the intention of furthering a criminal purpose; “writing” includes any mode of representing or reproducing words, figures, drawings or symbols in a visible form.[Act 11 of 2024 wef 01/11/2024]