Michael Zander QC distils current Law Commission proposals for a major reform of search warrant law
The Law Commission this month published a wide-ranging, 341-page consultation paper on what needs to be done about search warrant law. The consultation will run until 5 September.
The project, undertaken at the request of the Home Office, was triggered by judicial comments that search warrant law was unnecessarily complex, liable to give rise to challenges and in need of reform. There had been some 50 judicial reviews concerning search warrants since 2010. The cost of a defective search warrant could be significant ‘with entire investigations collapsing and potentially millions incurred by public bodies on legal fees and damages’. (para.1.2)
The consultation paper (No.235, www.lawcom.gov.uk/project/search-warrants/) poses 63 questions. Thirty-six of these are in the form of what it calls ‘provisional proposals’:
- The statutory safeguards in PACE, ss 15 and 16 should apply to all criminal investigation search warrants. (Q.1)
- Anyone who applies for a criminal investigation search warrant should be bound by Code B of PACE. (Q.2 )
- PACE s 15(1) should be amended
