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624.   Information for search warrant

Revised Laws of Saint Lucia (2022)

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624.   Information for search warrant

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    (1)   A magistrate who is satisfied by information on oath that there are reasonable grounds for believing that there is in a building, ship, carriage, box, receptacle or place—

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      (a)     anything on or in respect of which any offence has been or is suspected to have been committed;

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      (b)     anything that there are reasonable grounds to believe will afford evidence with respect to the commission of an offence, or will reveal the whereabouts of a person who is believed to have committed an offence; or

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      (c)     anything that there are reasonable grounds to believe is intended to be used for the purpose of committing any offence against any person for which a person may be arrested without warrant;

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      (d)     any offence-related property,

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    may at any time issue a warrant authorizing a police officer who is named in the warrant—

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      (i)     to search the building, receptacle or place for any such thing and to seize it, and

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      (ii)     bring the thing seized before the justice or some other magistrate to be dealt with by him or her according to law.

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    (2)   A person authorized under this section to search computer system in a building or place for data may—

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      (a)     use or cause to be used any computer system at the building or place in order to search any data contained in or available to the computer system;

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      (b)     reproduce or cause to be reproduced any data in the form of a print-out or other intelligible output;

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      (c)     seize the print-out or other output for examination or copying; and

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      (d)     use or cause to be used any copying equipment at the place to make copies of the data.

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    (3)   A person who is in possession or control of any building or place in respect of which a search is carried out under this section shall, on presentation of the warrant, permit the person carrying out the search—

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      (a)     to use or cause to be used any computer system at the building or place in order to search any data contained in or available to the computer system for data that the person is authorized by this section to search for;

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      (b)     to obtain a hard copy of the data and to seize it; and

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      (c)     to use or cause to be used any copying equipment at the place to make copies of the data.

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    (4)   A magistrate may issue a warrant in writing authorizing a police officer to, subject to this section, use any device or investigative technique or procedure or do anything described in the warrant that would, if not authorized, constitute an unreasonable search or seizure in respect of a person or a person's property if—

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      (a)     the magistrate is satisfied by information on oath in writing that there are reasonable grounds to believe that an offence has been or will be committed and that information concerning the offence will be obtained through the use of the technique, procedure or device or the doing of the thing;

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      (b)     the magistrate is satisfied that it is in the best interests of the administration of justice to issue the warrant; and

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      (c)     there is no other provision in this Code or any other enactment that would provide for a warrant, authorization or order permitting the technique, procedure or device to be used or the thing to be done.

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    (5)   Nothing in subsection (4) shall be construed as to permit interference with the bodily integrity of any person.

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    (6)   A warrant issued under subsection (4) shall contain such terms and conditions as the magistrate considers advisable to ensure that any search or seizure authorized by the warrant is reasonable in the circumstances.

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    (7)   A warrant issued under subsection (4) that authorizes a police officer to observe, by means of a television camera or other similar electronic device, any person who is engaged in activity in circumstances in which the person has a reasonable expectation of privacy shall contain such terms and conditions as the judge considers advisable to ensure that the privacy of the person or of any other person is respected as much as possible.

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    (8)   A warrant issued under subsection (4) that authorizes a police officer to enter and search a place covertly shall require, as part of the terms and conditions referred to in subsection (6) that notice of the entry and search be given within any time after the execution of the warrant that the magistrate considers reasonable in the circumstances.

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    (9)   Where the magistrate who issues a warrant under subsection (4) or any other magistrate having jurisdiction to issue such a warrant is, on the basis of an affidavit submitted in support of an application to vary the period within which the notice referred to in subsection (8) is to be given, is satisfied that the interests of justice warrant the granting of the application, the magistrate may grant an extension, or a subsequent extension, of the period, but no extension may exceed 3 years.

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    (10)   Where a police officer believes that it would be impracticable to appear personally before a magistrate to make an application for a warrant under this section, a warrant may be issued under this section on an information submitted by telephone or other means of telecommunication and, for that purpose, subsection (1) applies, with such modifications as the circumstances require, to the warrant.

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