(1) In this Act: approved form means a form approved by the Commissioner.Assistant Commissioner means an Assistant Commissioner for the Commission.authorised officer has the same meaning as it has in the. Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 Commission means the New South Wales Crime Commission constituted by this Act.Commissioner means the Commissioner for the New South Wales Crime Commission.criminal group has the same meaning as in section 93S of the. Crimes Act 1900 current charge —see subsection (1B).executive officer means the following:
(a) the Commissioner, (b) an Assistant Commissioner. function includes a power, authority or duty, andexercise a function includes perform a duty.government agency means the following:
(a) a public authority constituted by or under an Act, (b) a government sector agency within the meaning of the , Government Sector Employment Act 2013 (c) a NSW Government agency, (d) a local council or other local authority, (e) a State owned corporation, (f) any other holder of an office or body prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this definition. head of a government agency or investigative agency means:
(a) the chief executive officer or other principal officer of the agency, or (b) a person who is specified by the regulations as the head of a particular agency for the purposes of this definition. investigation means an investigation or reinvestigation conducted by the Commission under this Act and includes any inquiry into matters connected with, or arising out of, the exercise of the Commission’s functions.investigative agency means the following:
(a) the Ombudsman’s Office, (b) the Independent Commission Against Corruption, (c) the Inspector of the Independent Commission Against Corruption and any staff of the Inspector, (d) the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission, (e) the Inspector of the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission and any staff of the Inspector, (f) any law enforcement agency, (g) any person or body prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this definition. Joint Committee —see section 70.law enforcement agency means the following:
(a) the NSW Police Force, (b) a Police Force of another State or a Territory of the Commonwealth, (c) the Australian Federal Police, (d) any other authority or person responsible for the enforcement of the laws of the Commonwealth or of the State, another State or a Territory of the Commonwealth. Management Committee orCommittee means the New South Wales Crime Commission Management Committee constituted by this Act.member of a government agency includes an officer or employee of, or any person otherwise engaged by or acting for or on behalf of, or in place of, or as deputy or delegate of, a government agency.member of an investigative agency includes an officer or employee of, or any person otherwise engaged by or acting for or on behalf of, an investigative agency.officer of the Commission —see section 72.police inquiry means an inquiry carried out under the authority of the Commissioner of Police.production notice —see sections 28 and 29.prosecutor means:
(a) the Director of Public Prosecutions or a delegate of the Director of Public Prosecutions, or (b) a police officer, or (c) any other person acting in a public official capacity or a private capacity, who is responsible for the conduct of a prosecution, and includes a reference to an Australian legal practitioner representing a person referred to in paragraphs (a)–(c). relevant criminal activity means any circumstances implying, or any allegations, that a relevant offence may have been, or may be being, or may in the future be, committed.relevant offence —see section 5.search warrant means a search warrant issued under section 17.serious crime concern means any circumstances implying, or any allegations, that relevant offences of a particular type or class are being, or are likely to continue to be, committed in an organised, systemic or sustained way so as:
(a) to have, or be likely to have, a significant impact on the community, or (b) to involve, or be likely to involve, substantial proceeds (within the meaning of the ) of illegal activity (within the meaning of that Act). Criminal Assets Recovery Act 1990 staff —see section 74.task force —see section 58.Note— The contains definitions and other provisions that affect the interpretation and application of this Act. Interpretation Act 1987
(1) An expression used in this section which is defined in the has the meaning it has in that Act. Law Enforcement Conduct Commission Act 2016 (2) The Crime Commission has the functions of working collaboratively (so far as practicable) with the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (the LECC ) with respect to the education of Crime Commission officers about Crime Commission officer misconduct, officer maladministration and agency maladministration and the support and promotion of initiatives of the Crime Commission directed at the prevention and elimination of such misconduct and maladministration.(3) As soon as practicable after a misconduct matter is received by the Crime Commissioner or after the Commissioner becomes aware of a misconduct matter, the Commissioner may (except as provided by subsection (5)) decide as follows:
(a) to investigate or otherwise deal with the misconduct matter under this Act, (b) to refer the misconduct matter to the LECC for consideration of whether or not it is to be investigated by LECC or otherwise dealt with under the , Law Enforcement Conduct Commission Act 2016 (c) to take no further action under this Act with respect to the misconduct matter. Note— The Commissioner may decide to take action with respect to misconduct matters in accordance with Part 8 of the . Government Sector Employment Rules 2014 (4) A decision under subsection (3) may be made in respect of the whole or any part of a misconduct matter. (5) The Commissioner must refer a misconduct matter received by the Commissioner or of which the Commissioner becomes aware that alleges, indicates or suggests that conduct of the Commissioner or an Assistant Commissioner is (or could be) officer misconduct to the LECC unless the misconduct has been referred to the Commissioner by the LECC.
(1) An executive officer may apply to an authorised officer for the issue of a search warrant if:
(a) the Commission has reasonable grounds for suspecting that there is, or within one month may be, in or on any premises things of a relevant kind, and (b) the Commission believes on reasonable grounds that, if a summons were issued for the production of the things, the things might be concealed, lost, mutilated or destroyed. (2) An authorised officer to whom an application is made under this section may, if satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for doing so, issue a search warrant authorising any member of the NSW Police Force, or any other person, named in the warrant:
(a) to enter the premises, and (b) to search the premises for things of the relevant kind, and (c) to seize any things of the relevant kind found in or on the premises and deliver things so seized to the Commission, and (d) in addition, to seize any other thing found in the course of executing the warrant that the person executing the warrant believes on reasonable grounds:
(i) to be evidence that would be admissible in the prosecution of another person for a relevant offence, or for an indictable offence against the law of the Commonwealth, of a State or of a Territory, and (ii) that it is necessary to seize in order to prevent its concealment, loss, mutilation or destruction, or its use in committing such an offence.
(1) The Commission may retain a thing seized under a search warrant if, and for so long as, retention of the thing is considered by the Commission to be reasonably necessary for the purposes of an investigation to which the thing is relevant.
(1) A hearing before the Commission is to be held in private and the Commission may (subject to section 21A) give directions as to the persons who may be present during the hearing or a part of the hearing.
(1) An executive officer with special legal qualifications may, by notice in writing served on a person (a production notice ), require the person:
(a) to attend at a time and place, and before an officer of the Commission, specified in the notice, and (b) to produce at that time and place to that officer a document or thing specified in the notice, being a document or thing that is relevant to an investigation. (2) The production notice may provide that the requirement may be satisfied by some other person acting on behalf of the person on whom it was imposed and may, but need not, specify the person or class of persons who may so act. (3) A requirement to produce a document that is in electronic form, or to make any such document available for inspection, includes a requirement to produce, or make available, a hard copy form of the document, including the generation of reports or the extraction of data.
(1) This section applies if a person is required to produce a document or thing to an officer of the Commission in accordance with a production notice under section 28 or 29. (2) A person may not claim that he or she is entitled to refuse or fail to produce the document or thing unless the claim is made personally to the officer to whom the person is required to produce the document or thing by the production notice.
(1) This section applies to a person who claims to be entitled to refuse:
(a) to produce information or a document or thing that the person is required to produce by a production notice under section 28, or (b) to answer a question put to the person, or to produce a document or thing that the person was required to produce, at a hearing before the Commission under section 30 (4), or (c) to comply with a requirement to take an oath or affirmation, to answer a question or to produce a document or thing at a hearing referred to in section 24. (2) The Commission must decide as soon as practicable whether in its opinion the claim of a person to whom this section applies is justified and notify the person of its decision.
(1) This section applies to a person who is the subject of a current charge for an offence, and relates to the taking of evidence from the person in relation to the subject matter of the offence. (2) The person cannot be:
(a) questioned under section 24 at a hearing before the Commission, or (b) required under section 24 or 29 to produce a document or thing, in relation to matters relating to the subject matter of the offence without the leave of the Supreme Court. (3) Evidence obtained pursuant to leave granted for the purposes of this section cannot be used against the person in any civil or criminal proceeding (other than a proceeding for an offence against this Act or an offence relating to the falsity of evidence given by the witness) or in any disciplinary proceeding, but is not inadmissible as against other persons. Note— See section 39A (3) and (4) for derivative evidence.
(1) Any further information, evidence, document or thing (the derivative evidence ) obtained as a result of:
(a) the questioning under section 24 of a witness at a hearing before the Commission, or (b) the production under section 24 or 29 of a document or thing, (the original evidence ) is not inadmissible in any civil or criminal proceeding or in any disciplinary proceeding.
(1) A witness who is appearing, or is about to appear, before the Commission may make an application to the Attorney General for the provision of assistance under this section in respect of the witness’s appearance.
(1) The Commission may direct that:
(a) any evidence given before it, or (b) the contents of any document, or a description of any thing, produced to the Commission or seized under a search warrant, or (c) any information that might enable a person who has given or may be about to give evidence before the Commission to be identified or located, or (d) the fact that any person has given or may be about to give evidence at a hearing, must not be published, or must not be published except in such manner, and to such persons, as the Commission specifies. (2) The Commission must give such a direction if the failure to do so might prejudice the safety or reputation of a person or prejudice the fair trial of a person who has been or may be charged with an offence. (3) A person must not make a publication in contravention of a direction given under this section. Maximum penalty: 100 penalty units or imprisonment for 2 years, or both.
(1) This section applies where:
(a) evidence involving the subject matter of an offence (the offence concerned ) is given before the Commission, and(b) the evidence was provided by a person (the witness ) who is at that time the subject of a current charge for the offence concerned, and(c) the witness objected to providing the evidence. (2) The Commission must not allow any of the evidence or a record of any of the evidence to be disclosed to a member of an investigative agency or a prosecutor if the member of the agency or the prosecutor is involved in the investigation or prosecution of the offence concerned.
(1) The Management Committee may give directions and furnish guidelines to the Commission with respect to the exercise of its functions. (2) The Commission must comply with any such directions or guidelines.
(1) The staff of the Commission comprises:
(a) those persons who are employed in the Public Service under the to enable the Commission to exercise its functions, and Government Sector Employment Act 2013 (b) the persons referred to in subsections (2), (3) and (4). Note— Section 59 of the provides that the persons so employed (or whose services the Commission makes use of) may be referred to as officers or employees, or members of staff, of the Commission. Section 47A of the Government Sector Employment Act 2013 precludes the Commission from employing staff. Constitution Act 1902 (2) The Commission may engage persons as consultants to the Commission or to perform services for it.
(1) Vetting information that is held by the Commission or obtained under this section may be used in determining whether to appoint a person (an applicant ) as an officer of the Commission.(2) For the purposes of this section, vetting information is information of the following kind about an applicant, or about an associate or relative of an applicant:
(a) any criminal intelligence report or other criminal information, (b) information held in the Births, Deaths and Marriages Register, (c) information held by Roads and Maritime Services relating to licences or other authorities, offences or penalties, (d) information held by Corrective Services NSW, Department of Justice, (e) information held by the Australian Crime Commission, (f) information held by a law enforcement agency, (g) information held by an agency of the Commonwealth or of the State or another State or Territory investigating public sector corruption, (h) information held by an agency of a jurisdiction outside Australia, being an agency responsible for the enforcement of laws of that jurisdiction, (i) information prescribed by the regulations that is held by a public authority or held by a Government agency of another jurisdiction (whether in or outside Australia). (3) The Commission may, with the consent of an applicant, request a public authority or other person or body to disclose vetting information about the applicant. (4) The Commission may also, without consent, request a public authority or other person or body (not being an agency of a jurisdiction outside Australia) to disclose vetting information about associates or relatives of the applicant.
(1) The relevant body for a record must, for the period of 2 years commencing on the commencement of this section (the review period ), keep a record of each occasion when vetting information about an associate or a relative of an applicant is considered under section 78A.(2) The relevant body is to record whether vetting information was the basis (wholly or partly) of a decision not to appoint the applicant and the information relied on for that purpose. (3) A person appointed by the Attorney General is to review the records kept under this section at the end of the review period.
(1) This section applies to a person:
(a) who is or was an executive officer, and (b) who is or was a member of the staff of the Commission, and (c) (d) who is or was an Australian legal practitioner appointed to assist the Commission or who is or was a person who assists, or performs services for or on behalf of, such an Australian legal practitioner in the exercise of the Australian legal practitioner’s functions as counsel to the Commission, and (e) who is or was a member of a task force assisting the Commission in accordance with an arrangement under section 58, and (f) to whom information is given by the Commission or by a person referred to in paragraph (a), (b), (c), (d) or (e) after expressly informing the person that the information is to be treated by the person as confidential. (1A) This section applies to a person conducting a review under section 78B in relation to the person’s functions under that section.
(1) The Commissioner, and any officer of the Commission acting with the approval of the Commissioner, may:
(a) furnish to the Ombudsman information obtained by the Commissioner or officer in exercising functions in relation to the Commission, or (b) give evidence before the Ombudsman and produce any document to the Ombudsman in respect of any such information.
(1) A person who is required:
(a) by a production notice under section 28 or 29 to furnish information or to attend and produce a document or other thing, or (b) by a summons under section 24 to give evidence or to produce a document or other thing, must not disclose any information about the notice or summons that is likely to prejudice the investigation to which it relates. Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units or imprisonment for 12 months, or both.
(1) The Commission must, within the period of 4 months after each 30 June, prepare a report of its operations during the year that ended on that 30 June and furnish the report to the Management Committee for transmission, together with such comments on the report as the Committee thinks fit, to the Minister. (2) A report by the Commission under this section in relation to a year must include the following:
(a) a description of the matters that were referred during that year to the Commission for investigation, (b) a description, which may include statistics, of any patterns or trends, and the nature and scope, of organised and other crime that has come to the attention of the Commission during that year in the course of its investigations, (c) (d) the general nature and the extent of any information furnished by the Commission during that year to an investigative agency, (e) the extent to which its investigations have resulted in the prosecution in that year of persons for offences, (f) particulars of warrants issued by the Commissioner under section 36, including whether a warrant was issued for a failure to appear as a witness at a hearing before the Commission or because the Commissioner was satisfied that a person intended not to appear at such a hearing, (g) particulars of the number and results of:
(i) applications made to the Supreme Court under section 33 for review in respect of decisions of the Commission, and (ii) other court proceedings involving the Commission, being applications and proceedings that were determined, or otherwise disposed of, during that year. (2A) A report by the Commission under this section in relation to a year may also include recommendations for changes in the laws of the State, or for administrative action, that, as a result of the exercise of its functions, the Commission considers should be made.
(Sections 8 and 9)
(Section 50)