Commission urges police to introduce guidelines for use of terrorism laws

Friday, 22 November 2024

Covert search warrants and preventative detention powers were unused during the period 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2023, a fresh Law Enforcement Conduct Commission review of police powers has found.

The Commission is required to prepare a report for the Attorney General on its review of the use of covert search warrants and preventative detention powers under the Terrorism (Police Powers) Act 2002.

The Attorney General tabled the Commission’s report in Parliament on 21 November 2024.

The Commission’s second review of the powers follows the NSW Parliament’s extension of the sunset clause for the police-use of preventative detention powers until 2026.

The extension of the sunset clause for the preventative detention powers comes after the Commission’s 2022 review recommended that the preventative detention power be repealed due to the availability of alternative investigative detention powers introduced in 2016.

The Commission’s review identified that 19 years after the preventative detention orders were first introduced, the NSW Police Force continues to not have in place standard operating procedures for such orders, despite supporting an earlier Commission recommendation that these procedures be finalised and corporately endorsed.

The review also found that the police handbook and relevant covert search warrant procedures had not been updated.

Chief Commissioner Peter Johnson SC expressed concern about this shortfall.

“The police handbook and procedures do not provide sufficient guidance to officers about how to execute covert search warrants under the Act and the risk of non-compliance with the Act is insufficiently addressed,” he said.

NSW Police Force representatives in correspondence with the Commission have said the force is committed to prioritising the development of the search warrant policy documents.

The Commission made four recommendations to the NSW Police Force in its report.

The Commission’s report Covert Search Warrants & Preventative Detention Orders: Review under the Terrorism (Police Powers) Act 2002 (NSW) July 2020 -June 2023 can be accessed on the Commission’s website here and a fact sheet about the report can be found here. A previous media release about the Commission’s first review can be found here.

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