Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000

A Supreme Court judge or a magistrate may issue a surveillance device warrant if satisfied—

there are reasonable grounds for the belief founding the application for the warrant; and

for a remote application—that it would have been impracticable for the application to have been made in person.

In deciding whether a surveillance device warrant should be issued, the judge or magistrate, being mindful of the highly intrusive nature of a surveillance device warrant, must have regard to—

the nature and gravity of the relevant offence for which the warrant is sought; and

the extent to which the privacy of any person is likely to be affected; and

the existence of alternative ways of obtaining the evidence or information sought to be obtained and the extent to which those ways may help or prejudice the investigation; and

the evidentiary or intelligence value of any information sought to be obtained; and

any previous warrant of a similar kind sought or issued under this Act, the Crime and Corruption Act 2001 or a corresponding law, if known, in connection with the same offence; and

any submissions made by a monitor.

The judge or magistrate may issue a warrant for the use of a surveillance device in the office of a practising lawyer only if the application for the warrant relates to the lawyer’s involvement in a relevant offence.

A magistrate may issue a warrant for the use of a tracking device only if the warrant does not authorise covert entry to a building by a person installing the device.