International Law

No regrets

By John Hirst

Iain Dale on the Speaker's statement "Wow. Explosive stuff".

Like in damp squib?

The courts have made clear that police officers do not have to tell people that they can refuse to consent to a warrantless search. In other words, a police officer does not need to read you your rights before asking you to consent to a search. Also, despite the widespread myth to the contrary, an officer does not need to get your consent in writing. Oral consent is completely valid.

Speaker 'regrets' over raid on MP

House of Commons Speaker Michael Martin has said he "regretted" that police had been allowed to search a Tory MP's office without a warrant.

Given that the police also searched Damian Green's office in Kent, and his home, why has the issue of a search warrant or no search warrant been raised in either of these other searches by the police and only in relation to his office in the House of Commons?

Full post as published by prisonlawinsideout on December 03, 2008 (boomark / email).