10/10/2026
WHAT THE LAW SAYS
Episode 2
SEARCH & SEIZURE
Every Thursday. Know it before they test it.
“Open the boot. We’re searching the car.”
That's where knowing your rights becomes rather more useful than arguing about them afterwards. Police powers are not unlimited, and wearing a uniform does not create a constitutional exemption from the law.
Section 14 of the Constitution protects everyone against having their person, home or property searched, their possessions seized or the privacy of their communications infringed. Your privacy is a constitutional right. It is not a courtesy granted by whoever happens to be standing in front of you.
Usually, they need a warrant.
Section 21 of the Criminal Procedure Act provides for the seizure of articles through a search warrant where the statutory requirements have been met. In other words, the starting point is not “we felt like searching”; there must be lawful authority for the search.
But before somebody starts shouting “NO WARRANT, NO SEARCH!”, there are exceptions. Because, naturally, the law is slightly more complicated than a Facebook graphic.
Section 22 of the Criminal Procedure Act permits a warrantless search where the person concerned consents, or where the police official has reasonable grounds to believe that a warrant would be issued and that waiting to obtain one would defeat the purpose of the search. Other legislation can also create specific search powers.
A lawful arrest changes the position.
When someone is lawfully arrested, section 23 of the Criminal Procedure Act permits the person making the arrest to search the arrested person and seize specified articles found in their possession or under their control.
That does not mean an arrest gives police a blank cheque to search anything and everything connected to that person. The authority to search still comes from the law, and the circumstances still matter.
Your car is not a constitutional dead zone.
A vehicle may be searched without a warrant where the law permits it, but “it's a car” is not itself a legal justification. The question is what authority the police are relying on and whether the requirements for exercising that power have been met.
The same principle applies to your home, where the constitutional protection of privacy is particularly important. Section 14 expressly protects the home against search, while the Criminal Procedure Act regulates when police may enter and search premises, including circumstances in which a warrant is not required.
So when someone arrives at your front door and says, “We're just going to have a look around,” you don't need to become a constitutional action hero. Ask what legal authority they are relying on.
“Just cooperate” doesn't rewrite the law.
Consent matters. If you voluntarily consent to a search, section 22 recognises that as a basis for a warrantless search. But consent, lawful statutory authority and an unlawful search are three different things.
And here's the important part: do not physically resist a lawful search. If you believe the search is unlawful, make your objection clear and challenge it through the proper legal process. Fighting with police at the roadside is a spectacularly bad way of proving that you understand constitutional rights.
And if they get it wrong?
Section 35(5) of the Constitution provides that evidence obtained in a manner that violates the Bill of Rights must be excluded where admitting it would make the trial unfair or otherwise be detrimental to the administration of justice.
So the question is not simply what evidence the police found. The question is how they got it.
A warrant, consent, statutory authority and the recognised exceptions to the warrant requirement are not interchangeable concepts. Neither is “I'm the police” a magic phrase that switches off section 14.
The Constitution protects your privacy. The Criminal Procedure Act provides circumstances in which that privacy can lawfully be invaded.
Know the difference before somebody tests it on you.
Next Thursday: When can the police enter your home without a warrant?
WHAT THE LAW SAYS.
Mind the law.
Streetwise Legal
