Revised Laws of Saint Lucia (2021)

PART 4
PROTECTED INFORMATION

21.   Order requiring disclosure of protected information

1.  

   (1)   Where protected information has come into the possession of an authorised officer by virtue of an interception direction or an entry warrant or both, under this Act, or by means of the exercise of a statutory power to seize, detain, inspect, search or otherwise to interfere with documents or other property, or is likely to do so, or has otherwise come into possession of an authorised officer by any other lawful means, and he or she has reasonable grounds to believe that—

   1.  

      (a)     a key to the protected information is in the possession of any person; and

   1.  

      (b)     disclosure of the information is necessary for any of the purposes specified in section 5(1)(a)(i) or (ii);

1.  

   the Attorney General or the Director of Public Prosecutions may apply in the prescribed form on his or her behalf to a judge in chambers for a disclosure order requiring the person whom he or she believes to have possession of the key to provide disclosure in respect of the protected information.

1.  

   (2)   A disclosure order under subsection (1)—

   1.  

      (a)     shall—

      1.  

         (i)     be in writing in the prescribed form,

      1.  

         (ii)     describe the protected information to which the order relates,

      1.  

         (iii)     specify the time by which the order is to be complied with, being a reasonable time in all the circumstances, and

      1.  

         (iv)     set out the disclosure that is required by the order, and the form and manner in which the disclosure is to be made; and

   1.  

      (b)     may, require the person to whom it is addressed to keep confidential the contents of the existence of the order.

1.  

   (3)   A disclosure order under this section shall not require the disclosure of any key which—

   1.  

      (a)     is intended to be used for the purposes only of generating electronic signatures; and

   1.  

      (b)     has not in fact been used for any other purpose.

1.  

   (4)   In granting a disclosure order required for the purposes of subsections (1) and (2), the judge shall take into account—

   1.  

      (a)     the extent and the nature of any protected information to which the key is also a key; and

   1.  

      (b)     any adverse effect that complying with the order might have on a business carried on by a person to whom the order is addressed;

1.  

   and shall permit only such disclosure as is proportionate to what is sought to be achieved, allowing, where appropriate, for disclosure in such a manner as would result in the putting of the information in intelligible form other than by disclosure of the key itself.

1.  

   (5)   A disclosure order made under this section shall not require the making of any disclosure to a person other than—

   1.  

      (a)     the authorised officer named in the disclosure order; or

   1.  

      (b)     such other person, or description of persons, as may be specified in the disclosure order.