CRIMINAL LITIGATION

The obtaining of a search warrant under s 8 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) is never to be treated as a formality. All the material necessary to justify the grant of a warrant should be contained in the information provided on the application form. If the magistrate (or judge in the case of an application under s 9), requires any further information in order to satisfy himself that the warrant is justified, a note should be made of the additional information so that there is a proper record of the full basis upon which the warrant was granted.

If the application for the warrant does not identify which of the conditions in s 8(3) is being relied on, the issue of the warrant will be unlawful. While PACE distinguishes between a “specific premises warrant” and an “all premises warrant”, a single warrant may include both types provided that the relevant information is given to the magistrate. For the execution of the warrant to be lawful under s 16(5), the householder must be satisfied not only that there is a warrant in existence, but that it refers to his address.