“Slip Shod” Warrants & Remedies Following Dawn Raids

January 26, 2009

When the police, HMRC, or other investigatory agencies enter premises with a search warrant, affected persons or companies should expect to be able to identify the grounds upon which the warrant was obtained. In cases where there are procedural irregularities, the Courts can intervene to quash warrants and provide other remedies to those whose premises have been raided.

An illustration is the case of Redknapp & Another v City of London Police Commissioner & Another [2008] EWHC 1177(Admin), where the Administrative Court quashed a warrant having found it had been issued unlawfully because the conditions to show it was necessary had not been adequately identified. The Court exhorted the police and other investigators to inform the Court granting the warrant of the relevant information upon which material was sought and, in the instant case, to identify the specific conditions under PACE that were relied on.

In giving judgement, Latham LJ noted that the “obtaining of a search warrant is never to be treated as a formality. It authorises the invasion of a person’s home. All the material necessary to justify the grant of a warrant should be contained in the information provided on the form.” These remarks reinforce the importance for those subject to search warrants to assess the information that they have been given about why a regulatory authority has sought to undertake a dawn raid as opposed to seek voluntary provision of information or material, or under a production order.

The Administrative Court quashed the warrant in the instant case, basing its decision on the absence of proper records which could support the grounds upon which a warrant was obtained, and the material which could be seized.

For more information about search warrants and information-gathering powers of UK regulators, please contact the Business Crime Unit. If you are directly affected by a search warrant or notice requiring provision of information to a regulator, our specialist team can assist with urgent advice over the telephone, as well as provide you or your business with other assistance during and after any dawn raid or with advice in relation to production orders.

Please contact a member of the  for further information on this subject.

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