Safeguards on the Power Conferred by Search Warrants

Interlocutory proceedings in the Federal Court in October 2009, relating to search warrants, provides a useful reminder in relation to the permissible scope of search warrants. The broader proceedings in Zhang v Commissioner, Australian Federal Police (2009) 260 ALR 580 (Zhang) concerned challenges to the manner in which particular search warrants were issued and executed. The interlocutory application sought to prevent the inspection of documents that were seized in the search until the main proceedings had been determined.

Sections 3E and 3F of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) set the limits on the power conferred by search warrants relating to criminal offences in the federal jurisdiction. In respect of the degree of specificity required of a search warrant, sections 3E(5)(a) and (c) require the "issuing officer ... to state in the warrant" both "the offence to which the warrant relates" and "the kinds of evidential material that are to be searched for under the