New South Wales Consolidated Acts

CRIMINAL PROCEDURE ACT 1986 - SECT 281FF

281FF Improper copying or circulation of sensitive evidence

(1) A person who has possession of sensitive evidence that is health evidence must not copy, or permit a person to copy, the sensitive evidence, or give possession of the sensitive evidence to another person, except--

(a) for the legitimate purposes of a criminal investigation or criminal proceedings, or

(b) if the person is a public official, in the proper exercise of the person's public official functions (including any functions relating to education or training).

: Maximum penalty--100 penalty units, or 2 years imprisonment, or both.

(2) For the purposes of this section, any sensitive evidence in the possession of a person is
"health evidence" if--

(a) the person was given possession of the sensitive evidence by a health authority, or by a prosecuting authority exercising functions on behalf of a health authority, in or in connection with a criminal investigation or criminal proceedings, or

(b) the person is a public official who created, or obtained possession of, the sensitive evidence in the exercise of, or as a result of an opportunity that arose in the exercise of, public official functions in or in connection with a criminal investigation or criminal proceedings.

(3) A person cannot be found guilty of an offence against this section and an offence against section 281F in respect of the same act or omission.

(4) In this section--

"public official" has the same meaning as in the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988 .