Search and Seizure, Compulsion, Surveillance, and Interception

Abstract

Abstract This chapter examines the relationship between legal professional privilege and the main powers of search and seizure and compulsion available to the authorities in criminal investigations, including under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE 1984), the Criminal Justice Act 1987 (CJA 1987) (including ‘section 2 notices’), the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA 2002), the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOCPA 2005), the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA 2000), and ‘seize and sift’ powers under the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 (CJPA 2001). It provides guidance on the key principles that apply at each stage of the process when investigators wish to obtain material that may include privileged items, including case law relating to applications for and execution of search warrants. The chapter explains in detail the obligations under the CJPA 2001 for handling privileged material after seizure, including the initial examination, the obligation to return or isolate privileged material, the use of inextricably linked property, and applications under the CJPA 2001, section 59 for the return of material. Other topics include asserting privilege in response to powers of compulsion, the impact of seizure of privileged material on a defendant’s right to a fair trial, and covert surveillance and interception of privileged communications under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA 2000) and the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (IPA 2016).