Commentary on provisions of Act Section 1: Making of overseas production order on application
This section enables a judge to make, on application by an appropriate officer, an overseas production order. An overseas production order is an order that requires an overseas person (pursuant to the requirements for making an order in section 4) to produce stored electronic data (defined in section 3) or requires such a person to give access to electronic data.
	The section defines an overseas production order and sets out what it must contain, including in relation to an underlying international co-operation arrangement and the scope of data that can be sought by an applicant.
	An application for an overseas production order may only be made by an appropriate officer (defined in section 2) who is required to specify or describe the electronic data being sought in the application. When making an application, the appropriate officer must have reasonable grounds to believe that the electronic data that is sought and specified in the application does not include or consist of excepted electronic data. Excepted electronic data is defined in section 3.
	An application for an overseas production order must specify the international co-operation arrangement by reference to which the application is being made. Only arrangements which have been designated for the purposes of the Act by the Secretary of State may be specified. Subsection (5) provides the Secretary of State with the power to make regulations containing such designations. Only an international cooperation arrangement that is a "relevant treaty" relating to co-operation or mutual assistance in the investigation or prosecution of criminal matters to which the UK is a party may be designated. Subsection (6) defines a relevant treaty as a treaty that has been laid by a Minister of the Crown before Parliament under s20(1)(a) of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010.
	Subsection (7) defines "judge" for the purposes of the Act, with the effect that only the types or descriptions of judges listed have the power to make an overseas production order.