Errors on Search Warrants Even After All these Years
The Face of a Warrant The face of the warrant is the document that empowers police to search a particular location for particular eviden ce. Re Times Square Book Store and the Queen , 1985 CanLII 170 (ON CA) , 21 C.C.C. (3d) 503 ; R. v. Parent , 1989 CanLII 217 (YK CA) , 47 C.C.C. (3d) 385 ; R. v. Ricciardi , 2017 ONSC 2788 (CanLII) ; R. v. Merritt, 2017 ONSC 80 (CanLII). I t is vitally important that search warrants are clear on their face. Clarity on the face of a warrant ensures that police officers know the scope of the judicial authorization. Officers must be guided in the execution of the search warrant by the parameters imposed by the issuing justice. If the warrant is not clear on its face, no such guidance can be obtained. R. v Nguyen , 2017 ONSC 1341 (CanLII), The Interplay between the Face of a Warrant and the ITO The section of the warrant document known as the “Information to Obtain” provides an issuing justice the grounds to either grant or deny th