Powers to enter premises

The series continues with further discussion of police powers to enter and search premises. Amendments to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act by the Serious and Organised Crime Act 2005 do not affect the principles as to the meaning of premises.

Limitation on the Definition of Premises by Sections 17(2)(B) and 32(7)

These provisions limit the definition of premises where they consist of ‘separate dwellings’. This term is well known in housing legislation and in relation to Rent Acts it has been interpreted as follows:

‘There is a letting of a part of a house as a separate dwelling… if, and only if, the accommodation which is shared with others does not comprise any of the rooms which may fairly be described as “living rooms” or “dwelling rooms”…’ (Cole v Harris (1945))

A kitchen or lounge is fairly described as a ‘living room’ and thus a person who shares such a room with others in the same building cannot regard his sleeping quarters as a separate dwelling for the purposes of Sections 17 and 32. The following examples illustrate the meaning of ‘separate dwelling’, but it must be emphasised that each case will depend upon its particular facts and that the police should consequently investigate the circumstances whenever time permits. If time does not permit, and the police enter separate dwellings, the entry and search will be unlawful.

(a) D, a student, occupies a house with four other students. He has a study bedroom and shares the kitchen, bathroom and toilet facilities. If D commits an offence, the entire premises are subject to a search for D (S17) or evidence of his offence (S32).

(b) Students occupy self-contained flats in a block in which only the bathroom and toilet facilities are shared. Each flat is a separate dwelling and the limitations of S17(2)(b) and S32(7) apply. If, therefore, one student commits an offence, only the dwelling in which he is, or is reasonably believed to be, or in which he was when arrested, or immediately before arrest, can be entered and searched together with the bathroom and toilet, and the communal parts.

Where the property is in multi-occupancy the warrant should specify that part to which is directed (R v South Western Magistrates Court and Metropolitan Police Comr, ex P Cofie). A failure by the Constable to specify that she wanted to search a specific part of a multi-occupancy house breached the requirements of S15 (6) (a) (iv) in that it did not specify in explicit terms the particular premises which it was desired to search and rendered the warrant unlawful.

Note, however, that if D is arrested for an indictable offence under S18, ‘premises’ are not so limited, and any premises occupied or controlled by D may be searched if there are reasonable grounds to believe that there is evidence in them. (See further for the meaning of ‘separate dwelling’, Hill and Redman, Law of Landlord and Tenant (18th edn, para C 309).)

The broad scope of S23 is of particular significance when it is remembered that all the powers of entry and search dealt with in this chapter concern ‘premises’. Its generality can be contrasted with the three attempts which the Standing Committee made at defining ‘offshore installation’ in S23. Reliance was finally placed on the earlier version in S1(3)(b) of the Mineral Workings (Offshore Installations) Act 1971, viz, ‘any installation which is maintained, or is intended to be established, for underwater exploitation or exploration’, eg an oil-drilling platform.

It is important to note that the power of entry and search, whether under a warrant or under a statutory power, is generally a power to enter and search the premises, not persons in or on those premises. There is an exception under S23 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 where magistrates can issue a warrant to enter and search premises and any person found there, but generally the search is confined to premises. Where a person is arrested on premises a power to search the person arises under S32. If the premises or place is one to which the public has access and is not a dwelling, t