On whose person, belongings or premises may a court order a search, and does the ground for searching differ depending on whose they are?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In the practice file, we read the court's search warrant for the person, belongings, dwelling or other place searched, noting whose they are, the crime charged, and the court's stated reason for searching, and whether the record shows a specific item that could be seized was believed to be there.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading sets out two different limits on the same court: it may search the accused's person, belongings, dwelling or any other place only when necessary, and then only so far as it can recognise an object as related to the case against the accused, whereas a search of another person's body, belongings, dwelling or other place is allowed only where it can be recognised that there is a thing that may be seized.
Another reading stresses that both paragraphs turn on the court's own finding rather than on anyone's right: paragraph one requires the court to find the search necessary and to limit it to things it recognises as related to the case, and paragraph two requires it to find grounds for believing a seizable thing is present, so the file has to show what the court found in each instance.
Your judgment
If the search covered a room in a dwelling shared by the accused and another, how could the file show whether the court treated the room as the accused's or as another's?
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 change who or what may be searched or the ground required, or if a court decision clarifies how far 'a place' reaches when it is shared with others.