Clause 104 - Search warrants: premises
Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill
3:00 pm
Mr Jonathan Djanogly (Shadow Minister, Home Affairs; Huntingdon, Conservative)
By its very nature, the all-premises warrant will be open to interpretation, to the extent that the certainty that attaches to a single-premises warrant will be lacking. Subsection (14), which would become new section 8A(2) under the amendment, says that the judge may not issue such an all-premises warrant unless he is satisfied that
''that there are reasonable grounds for believing that it is necessary to search premises''.
What does ''reasonable'' mean in that context? There may be a difference between what a judge finds reasonable when a warrant is issued in the courtroom and what the police think is reasonable when an incident takes place and they feel that a premises needs to be searched; that disparity could lead to court cases. We are talking about a new type of order, so the potential for disputes about what is considered reasonable in those different circumstances is accentuated. Do the Government intend to issue guidance on such matters?