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bruneilawsby aturio
In force2024 Revised Edition
Contents

Part · Enforcement Powers and Procedures

49. Power to require information etc.

(1)

The Authority or any authorised officer may, for the purpose of conducting an investigation or discharging its functions under this Act or any regulations made thereunder, by order —

(a)

require any person to furnish the Authority with any information in his possession which relates to any postal service or postal system; and

(b)

require any person who has in his custody or under his control any document which relates to any postal service or postal system —

(i)

to furnish the Authority with a copy of or extract from the document; or

(ii)

unless the document forms part of the records or other documents of a court or public authority, to transmit the document itself to the Authority for its inspection.

(2)

The Authority or any authorised officer shall be entitled without payment to keep any copy or extract furnished to the Authority under subsection (1).

(3)

The Authority or any authorised officer shall at all reasonable times in the day have full and free access to all buildings, places, books, documents and other papers for the purpose of discharging the Authority’s functions under this Act, and may, without payment, inspect, copy or make extracts from any such books, documents or papers.

(4)

The Authority or any authorised officer may take possession of any book, document or paper where in the opinion of the Authority —

(a)

the book, document or paper may be interfered with or destroyed unless possession is taken; or

(b)

the book, document or paper may be required as evidence in proceedings for an offence under this Act or any regulations made thereunder.

Postal Services 42

(5)

The rights conferred by this section shall, in relation to information recorded otherwise than in legible form, include the right to require the information to be made available in legible form for inspection or for a copy or extract to be made of or from it.

(6)

The power under this section to require a person to produce a document includes the power —

(a)

if the document is produced, to require such person, or any person who is a present or past officer of his or is or was at any time employed by him, to provide an explanation of the document; or

(b)

if the document is not produced, to require such person to state, to the best of his knowledge and belief, where it is.

(7)

Any person who —

(a)

fails to comply with any requirement specified in any order under subsection (1);

(b)

intentionally alters, suppresses or destroys any document which he has been required under subsection (1) to furnish or transmit;

or

(c)

in furnishing any information required of him under subsection (1), makes any statement which he knows to be false in a material particular, or recklessly makes any statement which is false in a material particular, is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $50

for every day or part thereof during which the offence continues after conviction.

(8)

If a person is charged with an offence under subsection (7) in respect of a requirement to produce any document or information under subsection (1), it shall be a defence for him to prove that —

(a)

the document was not in his possession or under his control;

(b)

it was not reasonably practicable for him to comply with the requirement; or

Postal Services

(c)

he had a reasonable excuse for failing to provide the information required.

(9)

No person shall by virtue of this section be obliged to disclose any particulars as to which he is under any statutory obligation to observe secrecy.

(10)

In this section, “document” includes any electronic record within the meaning of the Electronic Transactions Act (Chapter 196).

Report

Read on from s 50

Part

General

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