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Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act, 2002 (Act 70 of 2002)

Chapter 2 : Prohibition of interception of communications and provision of real-time or archived communication related information and exceptions

Part 1 : Prohibition of interception of communications and exceptions

7. Interception of communication to prevent serious bodily harm

 

(1) Any law enforcement officer may, if—
(a) he or she is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to believe that a party to the communication has—
(i) caused, or may cause, the infliction of serious bodily harm to another person;
(ii) threatens, or has threatened, to cause the infliction of serious bodily harm to another person; or
(iii) threatens, or has threatened, to take his or her own life or to perform an act which would or may endanger his or her own life or would or may cause the infliction of serious bodily harm to himself or herself;
(b) he or she is of the opinion that because of the urgency of the need to intercept the communication, it is not reasonably practicable to make an application in terms of section 16(1) or 23(1) for the issuing of an interception direction or an oral interception direction; and
(c) the sole purpose of the interception is to prevent such bodily harm, intercept any communication or may orally request a telecommunication service provider to route duplicate signals of indirect communications specified in that request to the interception centre designated therein.

 

(2) A telecommunication service provider must, upon receipt of a request made to him or her in terms of subsection (1), route the duplicate signals of the indirect communications concerned to the designated interception centre.

 

(3) The law enforcement officer who made a request under subsection (1) must as soon as practicable after making that request, furnish the telecommunication service provider concerned with a written confirmation of the request which sets out the information given by that law enforcement officer to that telecommunication service provider in connection with the request.

 

(4) The law enforcement officer who intercepts a communication under subsection (1) or (2) must, as soon as practicable after the interception of the communication concerned, submit to a designated judge—
(a) a copy of the written confirmation referred to in subsection (3);
(b) an affidavit setting forth the results and information obtained from that interception; and
(c) any recording of the communication that has been obtained by means of that interception, any full or partial transcript of the recording and any notes made by that law enforcement officer of the communication if nothing in the communication suggests that bodily harm, attempted bodily harm or threatened bodily harm has been caused or is likely to be caused.

 

(5) A telecommunication service provider who, in terms of subsection (2), has routed duplicate signals of indirect communications to the designated interception centre must, as soon as practicable thereafter, submit an affidavit to a designated judge setting forth the steps taken by that telecommunication service provider in giving effect to the request concerned and the results obtained from such steps.

 

(6) A designated judge must keep all written confirmations and affidavits and any recordings, transcripts or notes submitted to him or her in terms of subsections (4) and (5), or cause it to be kept, for a period of at least five years.