New South Wales Repealed Acts

This legislation has been repealed.

CRIMES LEGISLATION AMENDMENT ACT 2003 - SCHEDULE 4

SCHEDULE 4 – Amendment of Crimes (Forensic Procedures) Act 2000 No 59

(Section 3)

[1] Section 54 Presence of interview friend or legal representative--children and incapable persons

Omit section 54 (3). Insert instead:

(3) An interview friend (other than a legal representative) of the suspect may be excluded from the place where the forensic procedure is being carried out if:

(a) the interview friend unreasonably interferes with or obstructs the carrying out of the procedure, or

(b) the investigating police officer forms a belief based on reasonable grounds that the presence of the interview friend could be prejudicial to the investigation of an offence because the interview friend may be a co-offender of the suspect or may be involved in some other way, with the suspect, in the commission of the offence.

(4) If an interview friend is excluded under subsection (3), a suspect may choose another person to act as his or her interview friend. If the suspect does not choose another person as an interview friend, the police officer may arrange for any person who may act as an interview friend under section 4 to be present as an interview friend.

[2] Section 55 Presence of interview friend or legal representative--Aboriginal persons and Torres Strait Islanders

Omit section 55 (4). Insert instead:

(4) An interview friend (other than a legal representative) of the suspect may be excluded from the place where the forensic procedure is being carried out if:

(a) the interview friend unreasonably interferes with or obstructs the carrying out of the procedure, or

(b) the investigating police officer forms a belief based on reasonable grounds that the presence of the interview friend could be prejudicial to the investigation of an offence because the interview friend may be a co-offender of the suspect or may be involved in some other way, with the suspect, in the commission of the offence.

(5) If an interview friend is excluded under subsection (4), a suspect may choose another person to act as his or her interview friend. If the suspect does not waive his or her right to have an interview friend present and does not choose another person as an interview friend, the police officer may arrange for any person who may act as an interview friend under section 4 to be present as an interview friend.

[3] Section 95 Definitions

Omit the definition of "corresponding law". Insert instead:

"corresponding law" means a law of the Commonwealth, or of a State or Territory, that substantially corresponds to Part 11, and includes those provisions of such a law as are prescribed by the regulations to be a corresponding law for the purposes of this Act.

[4] Section 97 Database information

Omit section 97 (1). Insert instead:

(1) The Minister may enter into arrangements with a responsible Minister of a participating jurisdiction under which:

(a) information from the DNA database system of this State is to be transmitted to an appropriate authority in the participating jurisdiction for the purposes of the investigation of, or the conduct of proceedings for, an offence against the law of this State or the law of the participating jurisdiction, and

(b) information from a DNA database system of the participating jurisdiction is to be transmitted to the Commissioner of Police for the purposes of the investigation of, or the conduct of proceedings for, an offence against the law of this State or the law of the participating jurisdiction.

(1A) Without limiting subsection (1), the Minister may enter into arrangements with a responsible Minister of the Commonwealth under which information from the DNA database system of this State is transmitted to an appropriate authority in the Commonwealth for the purpose of the authority:

(a) comparing the information so transmitted with information supplied to it from the DNA database system of a participating jurisdiction, and

(b) identifying to the Commissioner of Police and to the appropriate authority in the participating jurisdiction any matches that are found as a result of the comparison.

[5] Section 109 Disclosure of information

Insert after section 109 (2) (c):

(c1) the purposes of any arrangement of the kind referred to in section 97 (1) or (1A),

[6] Section 109 (2) (d)

Insert "other" before "arrangement".

Note: Items [1] and [2] amend sections 54 and 55 of the Crimes (Forensic Procedures) Act 2000 , in the same terms as previous amendments to section 10 of that Act, so as to extend the class of persons who can be excluded as a suspect's interview friends to persons who may be co-offenders with the suspect or may otherwise be involved in the commission of the alleged offence.
Item [3] amends the definition of "corresponding law" in section 95 of the Crimes (Forensic Procedures) Act 2000 so as to limit the ambit of the definition to laws that are prescribed by the regulations.
Item [4] amends section 97 of the Crimes (Forensic Procedures) Act 2000 so as to clarify the purposes for which the Minister administering that Act may enter into arrangements for the transmission of DNA data between this State and other jurisdictions, and so as to enable DNA data to be transmitted to the CrimTrac Agency (a Commonwealth agency) for the purpose of matching DNA data from different jurisdictions.
Item [5] amends section 109 of the Crimes (Forensic Procedures) Act 2000 so as to ensure that the provisions of that Act that prohibit disclosure of information do not apply to the transmission of DNA data in accordance with arrangements under section 97 of that Act. Item [6] is a consequential amendment.