Under this provision, who may order the production or seizure of postal and telecommunications items, and what limits does the law place on that power?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In a practice file we check the court's order for production or seizure, the identification of the postal services body or related institution said to hold or keep the items, and the stated reason for treating those items as relating to the defendant's case.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading takes the provision as granting this power to the court alone: where the court finds it necessary, and only for things it can recognise as relating to the defendant's case, it may order postal or telecommunications items held by postal services, telecommunications bodies or other related institutions to be submitted, or seize them.
Another reading notes the limit written into the provision: the court's reach is confined to items that may be recognised as relating to the defendant's case, so material held by those bodies about other persons or unconnected matters is not covered, and the provision does not say what showing satisfies that recognition.
Your judgment
When a body holds items touching both the defendant's case and someone else's privacy, what in the record shows which items the court can properly treat as relating to the defendant's case?
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 may order production or seizure, or to redefine what may be recognised as relating to the defendant's case, or if a court decision clarifies that point.