New Zealand Legislation: Acts

14 Warranted Officers' powers of inspection of occupied Crown-owned land

• (1) Any warranted officer or any person authorised by the Director-General may at any time and from time to time enter onto any occupied Crown-owned land, whether held under permit, lease, licence, or other authority, to inspect the adequacy of any wild animal control operations that may be under way, or to inspect the land as to the presence of wild animals, or to assess damage done by wild animals, or to inspect the habitat of any native wildlife that may be threatened by wild animals, or for any other purpose consistent with this Act:

  Provided that, on the first of any inspections of land held under any permit, lease, licence, or other authority, at least 28 days' prior notice shall be given in writing to the occupier of the land, and on any subsequent inspection made within 6 months of the first inspection and concerned with the same purpose at least 7 days' prior notice shall be given in writing to the occupier of the land.

  Provided also that, where the occupier of land held under any permit, lease, licence, or other authority has a good and sufficient reason for requesting that any inspection be brought forward or delayed in time, the inspecting officer shall not enter onto the land except on the agreed date unless the suggested advance date cannot be complied with or the delay sought by the occupier is greater than 14 days, in which case the inspection may be carried out as previously notified in writing by the inspecting officer.

  (2) Nothing in subsection (1) of this section shall prevent a warranted officer, on production of his warrant of appointment if so required, from entering onto any Crown-owned land at any time where he has good reason to believe that an offence against this Act or any regulations made under this Act is about to be, or is being, or has been, committed:

  Provided that a warranted officer shall not enter any dwellinghouse or the enclosed garden or curtilage of any dwellinghouse, unless he is authorised by a warrant under the hand of a District Court Judge or Justice of the Peace or Community Magistrate, who shall not grant such a warrant unless he is satisfied that the warranted officer has reasonable grounds for requiring entry into the dwellinghouse, garden, or curtilage.

  The proviso to subsection (2) was amended, as from 14 December 1979, by section 6 Wild Animal Control Amendment Act 1979 (1979 No 146) by inserting the words “or Justice of the Peace”.

  The proviso to subsection (2) was further amended, as from 30 June 1998, by section 7 District Courts Amendment Act 1998 (1998 No 76), by inserting the words “or Community Magistrate”.

  The words “warranted officer” were substituted, as from 1 April 1987, for the words “Forest Officer” pursuant to section 65(1) Conservation Act 1987 (1987 No 65). See also section 2(2) Forests Act 1949 (1949 No 19) as to an earlier amendment of this term.

  The words “District Court Judge” were substituted, as from 1 April 1980, for the word “Magistrate” pursuant to section 18(2) District Courts Amendment Act 1979 (1979 No 125).