Who must act, and in what order, before items may be seized or a search carried out in a local tax offence investigation?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In a practice file, read the seizure and search warrant itself for the officer who applied, the prosecutor who requested it and the judge who issued it, and read the record of that officer's place of duty, since the provision ties the application to it.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading follows the chain the provision sets: an officer investigating an offence case who needs to seize or search must apply to the prosecutor with jurisdiction over his place of duty, and only a judge of the district court with jurisdiction, on that prosecutor's request, may issue the warrant.
Another reading traces the proviso's separate route: where an offence under the offence provisions is in progress, or the suspect is fleeing or evidence is likely to be destroyed and there is no time to obtain a warrant, the officer may act without a warrant after telling the suspect and others named by presidential decree of the reason, so the provision requires that the reason be told to the suspect and the others named by presidential decree before any warrantless seizure or search.
Your judgment
When officers say there was no time to obtain a warrant, what in the record could show whether seeking one was genuinely impossible?
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 which prosecutor or court may issue the warrant, or if a court decision sets what must be recorded about the reason for acting without a warrant.