What must an arrest warrant state on its face, and who must sign it and who must sign and seal it?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
The practice file to read here is the copy of the arrest warrant itself, which must show the entries the provision requires, subject to the provision's allowances where the defendant's name or dwelling is unclear, and any record of who signed it, since the provision requires the signature and seal of the presiding judge or the judge commissioned to execute it.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading treats the listed entries as what the warrant must carry, save that where the name is unclear the defendant may be marked by identifying features and where the dwelling is unclear the entry of the dwelling may be left out: the defendant's name, dwelling, offence, the gist of the charged facts, the place of detention, the date of issue, its period of validity, and a statement that once that period has passed no execution may be commenced and the warrant must be returned, with the presiding judge or the commissioned judge signing and sealing it.
Another reading stresses that the expiry statement is not merely information: it records that a warrant whose validity period has passed cannot be executed, so a file showing detention begun after that period concerns a warrant the provision says must instead be returned.
Your judgment
If a warrant omits one listed entry, how could a reader tell from the papers whether it was nevertheless issued and relied on?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We look at this again if the provision is amended to add or remove a required entry or to change who may sign the warrant, or if a court decision addresses what follows when a warrant lacks a listed entry.