Revised Laws of Saint Lucia (2021)

646.   Order denying access to information used to obtain any warrant

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    (1)   A judge or magistrate may, on application made at the time of issuing a warrant under this Code or any other enactment or at any time thereafter, make an order prohibiting access to and the disclosure of any information relating to the warrant on the ground that—

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      (a)     the ends of justice would be subverted by the disclosure for one of the reasons referred to in subsection (2) or the information might be used for an improper purpose; and

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      (b)     the ground referred to in paragraph (a) outweighs in importance the access to the information.

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    (2)   For the purposes of paragraph (1)(a), an order may be made under subsection (1) on the ground that the ends of justice would be subverted by the disclosure—

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      (a)     if disclosure of the information would-

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        (i)     compromise the identity of a confidential informant,

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        (ii)     compromise the nature and extent of an ongoing investigation,

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        (iii)     endanger a person engaged in particular intelligence-gathering techniques and thereby prejudice future investigations in which similar techniques would be used, or

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        (iv)     prejudice the interests of an innocent person; and

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      (b)     for any other sufficient reason.

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    (3)   Where an order is made under subsection (1), all documents relating to the application shall, subject to any terms and conditions that the judge or magistrate considers desirable in the circumstances, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, any term or condition concerning the duration of the prohibition, partial disclosure of a document, deletion of any information or the occurrence of a condition, be placed in a packet and sealed by the judge or magistrate immediately on determination of the application, and that packet shall be kept in the custody of the Court in a place to which the public has no access or in any other place that the judge or magistrate may authorize and shall not be dealt with except in accordance with the terms and conditions specified in the order or as varied under subsection (4).

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    (4)   An application to terminate the order or vary any of its terms and conditions may be made to the judge or magistrate who made the order or a judge of the Court before which any proceedings arising out of the investigation in relation to which the warrant was obtained may be held.