27. Offence by or in relation to person on guard or on watch

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Amended

Last amended by an amending law of 2023.

(1)

Any person who, while on guard duty or on watch —

(a)

sleeps at his or her post or on watch;

(b)

not being on duty at a post, sleeps when his or her duty requires him or her to be awake;

(c)

is drunk; or

(d)

leaves his or her post or otherwise absents himself or herself from a place where it is his or her duty to be,shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or any other punishment authorised by this Act.

(2)

In this section, “a person on guard duty” has the meaning given by section 26.

(3)

For the purposes of this section, a person is deemed to be drunk if, and only if, the person’s faculties are, by reason of being under the influence of intoxicating liquor, a drug or a psychoactive substance, so impaired that —

(a)

it would be imprudent to trust the person, or to allow the person to continue, with the discharge of the person’s duties; or

(b)

the person is unfit for the discharge of the person’s duties.