Section 18 of PACE and the interpretation of “occupied or controlled”, by Neil Parpworth
Where a person has been arrested for an indictable (formerly an arrestable) offence, s 18(1) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE 1984), as amended by the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, empowers the police to enter and search any premises “occupied or controlled” by the person under arrest where the relevant officer has reasonable grounds for suspecting that he will find on the premises evidence relating to the indictable offence for which the person has been arrested, or evidence relating to some other indictable offence which is connected with or similar to that offence. Normally the power of entry and search under s 18 cannot be exercised without the prior written authorisation of an officer of the rank of inspector or above (s 18(4)). However, this is not an absolute restriction on the use of the s 18 power. The written authorisation requirement need not be complied with if the presence of the arrested person is necessary at a place other than a police station for the effective
