Revised Laws of Saint Lucia (2022)

19.   Powers of access, search and seizure for the purposes of investigation

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   (1)   Where a police officer or an authorized person has reasonable grounds to believe that stored data would be relevant for the purposes of an investigation or the prosecution of an offence, he or she may apply ex parte to a Judge in Chambers for the issue of a warrant to enter any premises to access, search and seize that data.

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   (2)   The powers of the police officer or an authorized person under this section include the power to—

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      (a)     access, inspect, and check the operation of any computer system;

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      (b)     use or cause to be used any computer system to search any data contained in or available to the computer system;

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      (c)     access any information, code or technology which has the capability of transforming or unscrambling encrypted data contained or available to such computer system into readable and comprehensible format or text for the purpose of investigating any offence under this Act or any other offence which is disclosed in the course of the lawful exercise of the powers under this section;

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      (d)     require—

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         (i)     the person by whom or on whose behalf the police officer or authorized person has reasonable cause to suspect any computer system to which this section applies,

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         (ii)     any person having charge of or otherwise interfere with the operation of that computer system,

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   to provide him or her with such reasonable technical, or other assistance as he or she may require for the purpose of paragraph (a);

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      (e)     require any person in possession of decryption information to grant him or her access to such decryption information necessary to decrypt data required for the purpose of investigating the offence;

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      (f)     seize or secure a computer system or any information and communication technologies medium;

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      (g)     make and retain a copy of data or information;

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      (h)     maintain the integrity of the relevant stored data or information; or

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      (i)     render inaccessible or remove the stored data or information from the computer system, or any information and communication technologies medium.

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   (3)   Where there are reasonable grounds to believe that a computer system or other device, would be relevant for the purposes of an investigation or the prosecution of an offence under this Act, a police officer or an authorized person may apply ex parte to a Judge in Chambers for the issue of a warrant to enter any premises to access, search and seize that computer system or other device.

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   (4)   Any computer system or other device seized under a warrant issued under subsection (3) may be retained until such time as is necessary for the investigation or prosecution of the offence for which the warrant was issued.

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   (5)   A person who obstructs a police officer or an authorized person in the exercise of the police officer's or authorized person's powers under this section or who fails to comply with a request made by a police officer or an authorized person under this section commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or both.