Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002

A warrant (other than a covert search warrant, a criminal organisation search warrant or a telephone warrant) that expires 72 hours after its issue may be extended by the eligible issuing officer who issued the warrant—

in the case of a warrant issued under Division 2 of Part 11—if the eligible issuing officer is satisfied that the purpose for which the warrant was issued cannot be satisfied within 72 hours, and

in any other case—if the eligible issuing officer is satisfied that the warrant cannot be executed within 72 hours.

A telephone crime scene warrant may be extended, for up to 60 hours at a time, by the eligible issuing officer who issued the warrant.

Any other telephone warrant may not be extended.

The time for expiry of a warrant that can be extended (other than a telephone crime scene warrant) may be extended only once.

The time for expiry of a telephone crime scene warrant may be extended twice.

Any extension of a warrant under this section—

must not extend the period for which the warrant has effect beyond 144 hours after its issue, except as provided by subsection (7), and

must be made on the application of the person to whom the warrant was issued or any other person who is authorised to execute the warrant, and

must be made on a written application made in person, unless it is impractical for the applicant to appear before an eligible issuing officer before the warrant expires, and

must be made before the expiry of the warrant, and

must be made by issuing a replacement warrant (specifying the new time for expiry of the warrant) and replacement occupier’s notice.

A crime scene warrant may be extended so that it has effect for a period of up to 720 hours after its issue if—

the offence in connection with which the warrant was issued is a terrorism offence, and

the eligible issuing officer who issued the warrant is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for extending the warrant beyond a period of 144 hours after its issue.

In this section—