[2001.]
Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud
Offences) Act, 2001.
[No. 50.]
produce the information, or to give access to it, in a form in which it Pt.7 S.52
is visible and legible and in which it can be taken away.
(4) An order under this section—
(a) in so far as it may empower a member of the Garda Sı́ochána to take away a document, or to be given access to it,
shall also have effect as an order empowering the member to take away a copy of the document (and for that
purpose the member may, if necessary, make a copy of
the document),
(b) shall not confer any right to production of, or access to, any
document subject to legal privilege, and
(c) shall have effect notwithstanding any other obligation as to
secrecy or other restriction on disclosure of information
imposed by statute or otherwise.
(5) Any material taken away by a member of the Garda Sı́ochána,
under this section may be retained by the member for use as evidence in any criminal proceedings.
(6) (a) Information contained in a document which was produced
to a member of the Garda Sı́ochána, or to which such a
member was given access, in accordance with an order
under this section shall be admissible in any criminal proceedings as evidence of any fact therein of which direct
oral evidence would be admissible unless the
information—
(i) is privileged from disclosure in such proceedings,
(ii) was supplied by a person who would not be compellable to give evidence at the instance of the
prosecution,
(iii) was compiled for the purposes or in contemplation of
any—
(I) criminal investigation,
(II) investigation or inquiry carried out pursuant to
or under any enactment,
(III) civil or criminal proceedings, or
(IV) proceedings of a disciplinary nature,
or unless the requirements of the provisions mentioned
in paragraph (b) are not complied with.
(b) References in sections 7 (notice of documentary evidence
to be served on accused), 8 (admission and weight of
documentary evidence) and 9 (admissibility of evidence
as to credibility of supplier of information) of the Criminal Evidence Act, 1992, to a document or information
contained in it shall be construed as including references
to a document mentioned in paragraph (a) and the information contained in it, and those provisions shall have
effect accordingly with any necessary modifications.
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