Singapore legislation
Section 2D
Section 2D
Power to enter premises under warrant
(1)
The court may, on the application of the Director of Legal Services or an investigator, issue a warrant, if the court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that there is, on any premises —
any document which has not been produced as required under section 2C; or
any equipment or article in which is stored in electronic form any information which has not been provided as required under section 2C.
(2)
A warrant under this section authorises a named officer to do all or any of the following:
to enter the premises specified in the warrant, using such force as is reasonably necessary for the purpose;
to search any person on the premises, if there are reasonable grounds for believing that the person has in the person’s possession any document, equipment or article mentioned in subsection (1);
to search the premises and take copies of, or extracts from, any document mentioned in subsection (1);
to take possession of any document mentioned in subsection (1), if —
such action appears to be necessary for preserving the document or preventing interference with it; or
it is not reasonably practicable to take copies of the document on the premises;
to take any other step which appears to be necessary for the purpose mentioned in paragraph (d)(i);
to require any person on the premises to provide an explanation of any document mentioned in subsection (1) or to state, to the best of the person’s knowledge and belief, where it may be found;
to require any information mentioned in subsection (1) which is stored in electronic form and accessible from the premises to be produced in a form which —
can be taken away; and
is visible and legible;
to remove from the premises for examination any equipment or article mentioned in subsection (1).
(3)
A woman may be searched pursuant to a warrant under this section only by another woman and with strict regard to decency.
(4)
Where possession of any document is taken pursuant to a warrant issued under this section, the named officer may, at the request of the person from whom possession of the document was taken, provide that person with a copy of the document.
(5)
A named officer may allow any equipment or article, which may be removed from any premises for examination pursuant to a warrant issued under this section, to be retained on the premises subject to such conditions as the named officer may require.
(6)
Any person who fails to comply with any condition imposed under subsection (5) shall be guilty of an offence.
(7)
A warrant issued under this section —
must —
indicate the subject matter and purpose of the investigation; and
provide information on the nature of an offence under section 2G, and the nature of an offence under section 2H; and
continues in force until the end of the period of one month beginning on the day on which it is issued.
(8)
The powers conferred by this section must not be exercised except upon production of a warrant issued under this section.
(9)
Any person entering any premises by virtue of a warrant under this section may take with him or her such equipment as appears to the person to be necessary.
(10)
If there is no one at the premises when the named officer proposes to execute a warrant under this section, the named officer must, before executing it —
take such steps as are reasonable in all the circumstances to inform the occupier of the intended entry; and
if the occupier is informed, give the occupier or the occupier’s legal or other representative a reasonable opportunity to be present when the warrant is executed.
(11)
If the named officer is unable to inform the occupier of the intended entry, the named officer must, when executing the warrant, leave a copy of it in a prominent place on the premises.
(12)
On leaving any premises which the named officer has entered by virtue of a warrant under this section, the named officer must, if the premises are unoccupied or the occupier is temporarily absent, leave them as effectively secured as the named officer found them.
(13)
Any document of which possession is taken pursuant to a warrant issued under this section may be retained for a period of 3 months.
(14)
In this section —
Definition
“court” means the General Division of the High Court, a District Court or a Magistrate’s Court;
Definition
“named officer” means a person named in the warrant, being —
the Director of Legal Services; or
an investigator;
Definition
“occupier”, in relation to any premises, means a person whom a named officer reasonably believes is the occupier of those premises.