It is preferable, in an ordinary case, for an application for a search warrant in a solicitor’s office to be made on notice. However, if a solicitor under investigation were to have knowledge of what was contemplated the material sought might disappear or be tampered with before it could be seen by the investigator, a judge might be persuaded that an ex parte application was appropriate and necessary.
Neill LJ said: ‘There is . . . a very powerful argument in support of the proposition that a warrant issued under section 9 schedule 1 of the 1984 Act should, however wide its scope, contain some express condition to exclude items subject to legal privilege.’
Judges:
Judge Savill QC, Neill LJ
Citations:
[1991] COD 119, (1991) CLR 559
Statutes:
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 10
Cited by:
Cited – Miller Gardner Solicitors, Regina (on the Application of) v Minshull Street Crown Court Admn 20-Dec-2002
Police investigating crime obtained a warrant to search a solicitor’s offices for details of their clients. The solicitors appealed.
Held: The details required, namely dates of contacts with a certain telephone number were not legally . .
Cited – Regina v Lewes Crown Court and Chief Constable of Sussex Police ex parte Nigel Weller and Co Admn 12-May-1999
The applicant sought judicial review of a decision to grant a search warrant in respect of his offices, saying that the material covered was protected by legal privilege. The warrant had been unavailable under section 8 because of the privilege, and . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Practice, Police, Legal Professions
Updated: 13 May 2022; Ref: scu.197744