A person who refuses to provide a PIN or password to police executing a search warrant may rely on legal professional privilege over some (not necessarily all) communications stored on the device as a 'reasonable excuse' under s 205A of the Criminal Code (Qld), at least where police have not made adequate arrangements to protect privileged material during their search. The defence is context-dependent and may be defeated if circumstances change, such as the making of adequate arrangements to ensure the search does not breach privilege.
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