13.
| (1) For the purposes of enforcing this Act, any authorized officer may
| | (a) stop, board and search any foreign fishing boat in Sri Lanka waters ; | | |
| | (b) require to be produced, examine and take copies of, any permit, log-book or other document required to be kept or maintained by or under this Act; | | |
| | (c) require to be produced, and examine, any fishing nets or other fishing gear on board, or belonging to, the boat and inspect any fish or aquatic plant on board the boat; | | |
| | (d) make such enquiries of the master and crew of the boat as may be necessary to ascertain whether any offence has been committed under this Act. | | |
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| (2) Any authorized officer, where he has reasonable grounds to believe that an offence has been committed under the Act may, with or without a warrant
| | (a) seize and detain any boat, used in, or in connection with ,the commission of the offence including any fishing gear, fish or aquatic plants, equipment, stores and cargo found on board, or belonging to, the boat, or seize any fishing gear abandoned by the boat; and | | |
| | (b) arrest any person who he has reason to believe has committed such offence. | | |
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| (3) In effecting the seizure of a boat under this section, an authorized officer may use such force as may be reasonably necessary. |
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| (4) Any foreign fishing boat seized under this section, and the crew thereof, shall be brought to the nearest or most convenient port in Sri Lanka. |
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| (5) Where any foreign fishing boat or other thing is seized under this section, the authorized officer by whom such boat or other thing was seized, shall as soon as possible produce the boat or other thing before, or make it available for inspection by, a Judge of the High Court, who shall make such order as he may deem fit relating to the detention or custody of such boat or other thing pending the conclusion of a prosecution instituted in respect of that boat or other thing: |
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| (6) Every person arrested under this section shall be Informed of the reason for his arrest and shall (subject, in the case of an arrest under a warrant, to any endorsement in such warrant) be produced before a Judge of the High Court within twenty-four hours of the arrest, exclusive of the time necessary for the journey from the place of arrest to that Judge. |
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| (7) Where, following the commission of an offence under this Act or any other law relating to fisheries by any foreign boat in Sri Lanka waters, such foreign fishing boat is pursued beyond the limits of Sri Lanka waters, the powers conferred on authorized officers by this section may be exercised beyond the limits of Sri Lanka waters in the circumstances, and to the extent, recognized by international law. |
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Sri Lanka Consolidated Acts