Search and Seizure
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Search and seizure Version v3.0 Removals, enforcement and detention General Instructions Page 1 of 33 Published for Home Office staff on 16 December 2016 Contents Contents .................................................................................................................... 2 About this guidance ................................................................................................. 4 Contacts ................................................................................................................. 4 Clearance and publication ...................................................................................... 4 Changes from last version of this guidance ............................................................ 4 Search and seizure: principles and constraints .................................................... 5 Principles of search ................................................................................................ 5 Search: general constraints .................................................................................... 5 Extent of search .................................................................................................. 6 Search officers: identification .............................................................................. 6 Search officer: gender ......................................................................................... 6 Documents subject to legal privilege: definition .................................................. 6 Searches out of area ........................................................................................... 7 Searching for relevant documents ....................................................................... 7 Searching people ..................................................................................................... 8 Searching arrested persons: paragraph 25B of schedule 2 .................................... 8 Search of people in a police station: arrest under paragraph 25C, schedule 2 to the Immigration Act 1971 ........................................................................................ 8 Carrying out a person search: conducting the search ............................................. 9 Standards you must meet when searching people.............................................. 9 Maintaining control while searching a person ................................................... 11 Quadrant searches ............................................................................................ 11 Safeguarding dignity during personal searches .................................................... 13 Cultural and gender awareness ........................................................................ 13 Full searches and intimate searches ................................................................. 14 Recording a person search ................................................................................... 14 Carrying out a premises search: conducting the search ................................... 16 Standards you must meet when searching premises ........................................... 16 Effective searching of premises: key points .......................................................... 18 Searching a room .............................................................................................. 19 Searching a vehicle ........................................................................................... 19 Recording a premises search ............................................................................... 19 Seizing and securing evidence ............................................................................. 20 Seizure of cash ..................................................................................................... 20 Powers and constraints ..................................................................................... 20 Definition of cash ............................................................................................... 21 Page 2 of 33 Published for Home Office staff on 16 December 2016 Seizing and handling cash: under POCA .............................................................. 21 Handling after POCA cash seizure .................................................................... 23 Seizing and handling cash as relevant evidence of a criminal offence.............. 23 Seizure of unattended cash .................................................................................. 24 Treatment of cash in wallets and purses ........................................................... 24 Seizure of foreign currency / bullion .................................................................. 24 Seizure of traveller’s cheques third-party cheques and bearer bonds or shares .......................................................................................................................... 25 Seizure of cash linked to terrorism .................................................................... 25 Search and seizure: non-immigration offences ..................................................... 25 Constraints ........................................................................................................ 25 Criminal Procedures and Investigations Act 1996: compliance ......................... 26 Search and seizure of electronic media ............................................................ 26 Access to seized material ................................................................................. 26 Preserving a crime scene ..................................................................................... 27 Likely scenarios ................................................................................................. 27 Scene preservation ................................................................................................ 27 Seize on advice ...................................................................................................... 27 Seize ........................................................................................................................ 27 Preserving a crime scene: general considerations ............................................ 27 Preserving a crime scene: necessity to arrest ................................................... 28 Recording and referring evidence ......................................................................... 28 Retention of documents .................................................................................... 29 Recording seized evidence ............................................................................... 29 Handling of seized items ................................................................................... 29 Non-statutory handling of property and baggage ............................................... 31 Personal effects and belongings ........................................................................... 31 Handling cash as personal property of the arrested person ................................. 31 Packing on someone’s behalf ............................................................................... 32 Searching and packing: powers ........................................................................ 32 Searching and packing by consent ................................................................... 33 Searching and packing without consent ............................................................ 33 Animals and pets found on premises .................................................................... 33 Page 3 of 33 Published for Home Office staff on 16 December 2016 About this guidance This guidance tells Immigration Enforcement officers about the powers they have to search premises and people when dealing with people who may be administratively removed under schedule 2 to the Immigration Act 1971. It also tells them about the powers that exist in the investigation of criminal cases. Contacts If you have any questions about the guidance and your line manager or senior caseworker cannot help you or you think that the guidance has factual errors then email Enforcement Policy. If you notice any formatting errors in this guidance (broken links, spelling mistakes and so on) or have any comments about the layout or navigability of the guidance then you can email the Guidance Rules and Forms team. Clearance and publication Below is information on when this version of the guidance was cleared: version 3.0 published for Home Office staff on 16 December 2016 Changes from last version of this guidance New guidance sections concerning: preserving crime scene recording and referring evidence non-statutory handling of property and baggage Related content Coercive powers: overview Contents Page 4 of 33 Published for Home Office staff on 16 December 2016 Search and seizure: principles and constraints This page tells Immigration Enforcement officers about the general constraints on their powers to search people and premises, and to seize material. For an overview of coercive administrative and criminal powers, including search powers, see Coercive powers: overview. Principles of search The power to search people or their property is an interference with a person’s right to respect for their private and family life, their home and their correspondence under article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Article 8 permits the interference by a public authority with the