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Search and Surveillance Act 2012

General provisions in relation to search, surveillance, and inspection powers - Search warrants - Application for search warrant

98: Application for search warrant

You could also call this:

"Asking for permission to search a place: what you need to do to get a search warrant"

When you want to get a search warrant, you need to apply for it. Your application must include some important details, such as your name, the reason you are applying for the warrant, and the address of the place you want to search. You also need to describe what you are looking for and how long you want the warrant to last.

The person who decides whether to give you the warrant, called the issuing officer, might ask you for more information about why you want the warrant. However, they cannot make you tell them who told you the information, unless it is necessary to decide whether to give you the warrant. You must tell the issuing officer if you or someone else has applied for a warrant to search the same place in the last three months.

Before you apply for a warrant, you need to check with your law enforcement agency to see if anyone else has applied for a warrant to search the same place. The issuing officer can decide to let you execute the warrant more than once if they think it is necessary. There is an exception to this rule, which is explained in section 18B and section 18C.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM2136789.

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Part 4General provisions in relation to search, surveillance, and inspection powers
Search warrants: Application for search warrant

98Application for search warrant

  1. An application for a search warrant must contain, in reasonable detail, the following particulars:

  2. the name of the applicant:
    1. the provision authorising the making of the application:
      1. the grounds on which the application is made (including the reasons why the legal requirements for issuing the warrant are believed by the applicant to be satisfied):
        1. the address or other description of the place, vehicle, or other thing proposed to be entered, or entered and searched, inspected, or examined:
          1. a description of the item or items or other evidential material believed to be in or on the place, vehicle, or other thing that are sought by the applicant:
            1. the period for which the warrant is sought:
              1. if the applicant wants to be able to execute the warrant on more than 1 occasion, the grounds on which execution on more than 1 occasion is believed to be necessary.

                1. The issuing officer—

                2. may require the applicant to supply further information concerning the grounds on which the search warrant is sought; but
                  1. must not, in any circumstances, require the applicant to disclose the name, address, or any other identifying detail of an informant unless, and only to the extent that, such information is necessary for the issuing officer to assess either or both of the following:
                    1. the credibility of the informant:
                      1. whether there is a proper basis for issuing the warrant.

                      2. The applicant must disclose in the application—

                      3. details of any other application for a search warrant that the applicant knows to have been made within the previous 3 months in respect of the place, vehicle, or other thing proposed to be searched; and
                        1. the result of that application or those applications.

                          1. The applicant must, before making an application for a search warrant, make reasonable inquiries within the law enforcement agency in which the applicant is employed or engaged, for the purpose of complying with subsection (3).

                          2. The issuing officer may authorise the search warrant to be executed on more than 1 occasion during the period in which the warrant is in force if he or she is satisfied that this is required for the purposes for which the warrant is being issued.

                          3. This section does not apply to an application made under section 18B (see section 18C).

                          Notes
                          • Section 98(6): inserted, on , by section 21 of the Criminal Activity Intervention Legislation Act 2023 (2023 No 7).