Section 17
Powers of employment agency inspector
of Employment Agencies Act 1958
(1)
An employment agency inspector has, for the purposes of this Act, power to do all or any of the following:
to enter and search, by day or by night, any premises or part thereof when he or she has reasonable cause to believe that evidence of the commission of an offence under this Act can be found therein;
to require any person, whom the employment agency inspector has reason to believe has any document or information relevant to any investigation carried out by him or her under this Act, to produce that document or give that information;
to retain any document relevant to any investigation carried out by him or her under this Act;
to examine orally any person supposed to be acquainted with the facts and circumstances relevant to any investigation carried out by him or her under this Act, and to reduce into writing the answer given or statement made by that person who is bound to state truly the facts and circumstances with which that person is acquainted; and the statement made by that person must be read over to him or her and must, after correction, be signed by him or her;
to require by written order the attendance before him or her of any person who, from information given or otherwise, appears to be acquainted with the facts and circumstances relevant to any investigation carried out by him or her under this Act, and that person must so attend as required and if that person fails to attend as so required, to report such failure to a Magistrate who may thereupon issue a warrant to secure the attendance of that person as required by the order;
to take any photographs, or audio or video recording, that he or she thinks necessary of the premises and persons reasonably believed to be acquainted with the facts and circumstances relevant to any investigation carried out by him or her under this Act;
to require any person to produce any article which is relevant to any investigation carried out by him or her under this Act and, if necessary, to take into custody that article.
(2)
An employment agency inspector may require the occupier of any premises and the occupier’s agents and any person found in the premises to provide such means required by the employment agency inspector as necessary for any entry, search, examination or investigation, the taking of photographs or audio or video recordings, the taking of articles into custody or otherwise in the exercise of his or her powers under this Act.
(3)
If any person —
intentionally offers any resistance to or wilfully delays an employment agency inspector in the exercise of any power under this section;
fails to comply with the requisition of an employment agency inspector under this section;
fails to produce any document which that person is required by or under this section to produce; or
conceals or prevents or attempts to conceal or prevent a person from appearing before or being examined by an employment agency inspector,that person is deemed, for the purposes of section 33(4), to obstruct an employment agency inspector in the exercise of his or her powers.
(4)
Every employment agency inspector has authority to appear in court and may, with the authorisation of the Public Prosecutor, conduct any prosecution in respect of any offence under this Act.[18