Revised Laws of Saint Lucia (2021)

46.   Search warrant to facilitate investigations

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   (1)   Where—

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      (a)     a person is convicted of a criminal conduct and a police officer has reasonable grounds for suspecting that there is in any premises any document of the type specified in section 41; or (Amended by Act 4 of 2010)

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      (b)     a police officer has reasonable grounds for suspecting that a person has committed a criminal conduct and there is in any premises any document of the type specified in section 41, (Amended by Act 4 of 2010)

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   the police officer may apply to a judge for a warrant under subsection (2) to search the premises.

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   (2)   Where an application is made under subsection (1) for a search warrant, the judge may, subject to subsections (3) and (4), issue a warrant authorising a police officer (whether or not named in the warrant) with such assistance and by such force as is necessary and reasonable—

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      (a)     to enter the premises;

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      (b)     to search the premises for documents of the kind referred to in subsection (1);

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      (c)     to seize and retain any document found in the course of the search that in the opinion of the police officer is likely to be of substantial value (whether by itself or together with other documents) to the investigation in respect of which the application is made.

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   (3)   A judge shall not issue a search warrant under subsection (2) unless the judge is satisfied that—

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      (a)     a production order has been made in respect of the document and has not been complied with;

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      (b)     a production order in respect of the document would be unlikely to be effective because there are reasonable grounds to suspect that such a production order would not be complied with;

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      (c)     the document involved cannot be identified or described with sufficient particularity to enable a production order to be made in respect of the document;

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      (d)     it is not practicable to communicate with any person having the power to grant entry to the premises; or

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      (e)     entry to the premises will not be granted unless a warrant is produced; or

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      (f)     the investigation for the purposes of which the application is made might be seriously prejudiced unless the police officer is granted immediate access to the document without notice of any person.

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   (4)   A judge shall not issue a search warrant under subsection (2) unless—

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      (a)     the applicant or some other person has given the judge, either orally or by affidavit, any further information that the judge requires concerning the grounds on which the search warrant is sought; and

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      (b)     the judge is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for issuing the search warrant.

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   (5)   A search warrant issued under this section shall state—

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      (a)     the purpose for which the warrant is issued, including a reference to the criminal conduct that has been, or is believed to have been, committed; (Amended by Act 4 of 2010)

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      (b)     whether entry is authorised to be made at any time of the day or night or during specified hours of the day or night;

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      (c)     a description of the kind of documents authorised to be seized; and

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      (d)     the date, not being later than 28 days after the day of issue of the warrant, upon which the warrant ceases to have effect.

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   (6)   Where a police officer enters premises in execution of a warrant issued under this section, he or she may seize and retain—

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      (a)     any document, other than items subject to legal privilege, which is likely to be of substantial value (whether by itself or together with other documents) to the investigation for the purpose of which the warrant was issued; and

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      (b)     anything that the police officer believes, on reasonable grounds, will afford evidence as to the commission of a criminal offence.

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   (7)   In this section—

“item subject to legal privilege” means—

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   (a)     communications between an attorney-at-law and his or her client; and

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   (b)     communications made in connection with or in contemplation of legal proceedings and for the purposes of these proceedings,

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   being communications which would in legal proceedings be protected from disclosure by virtue of any rule of law relating to the confidentiality of communications;

“premises” includes any place and in particular any building, receptacle or vehicle.

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