R (Malik) v Manchester and Salford Magistrates' Court

Queen’s Bench Division (Divisional Court) [2017] EWHC 2558 (QB), Lord Justice Bean and Mrs Justice McGowan, 18 July 2017

Search warrants - Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, section 8 - Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001, section 59 - Time limits - Unlawful retention of seized material - Contempt of court - Relief of sanctions.

During the course of an investigation into allegations that the claimants were fabricating offers of employment or making false statements that certain individuals were employed by them, and doing so in return for payment, the Home Office applied for search warrants in respect of the claimants' home and business premises under section 8 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 ("PACE"). Warrants were issued and a number of items duly seized. However, the claimants subsequently successfully challenged the issue and execution of the search warrants. As a result, on 29 November 2016 the High Court quashed the search warrants and ordered that the property seized be returned to the claimants within 56 days unless the Home Secretary applied for relief under section 59 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 ("section 59") prior to that date.