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The powers of the police to enter and search premises are both extensive and various. The police may search premises on the authority of a warrant from a court, or without a warrant under a number of statutory powers. Many of these powers are governed by Part II of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE 1984) and Code B of the PACE 1984 Codes of Practice.

The powers to search premises without warrant on or after an arrest are found in PACE 1984, ss 18 and 32 and are the subject of this Practice Note. PACE 1984, s 17 also confers a power to enter and search premises without a warrant in order to arrest a person.

For information on obtaining search warrants under PACE 1984, ss 8 and 9, see Practice Notes: Obtaining and executing a search warrant and Obtaining excluded material and special procedure material under PACE 1984.

There is no priority or preference between the use of the search warrant procedure (under PACE 1984, ss 8–9) and the use of the post-arrest