Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act 1987

The Attorney‑General may, in the Attorney‑General’s discretion, authorise an eligible law enforcement officer, in writing, to apply for a computer access warrant under section 27A of the Surveillance Devices Act 2004 if the Attorney‑General is satisfied that:

an investigation, or investigative proceeding, relating to a criminal matter involving an offence against the law of a foreign country (the requesting country) that is punishable by a maximum penalty of imprisonment for 3 years or more, imprisonment for life or the death penalty has commenced in the requesting country; and

the requesting country requests the Attorney‑General to arrange for access to data held in a computer (the target computer); and

the requesting country has given appropriate undertakings in relation to:

ensuring that data obtained as a result of access under the warrant will only be used for the purpose for which it is communicated to the requesting country; and

the destruction of a document or other thing containing data obtained as a result of access under the warrant; and

any other matter the Attorney‑General considers appropriate.

The target computer may be any one or more of the following:

a particular computer;

a computer on particular premises;

a computer associated with, used by or likely to be used by, a person (whose identity may or may not be known).

In this section: