Can the Police Enter a Shared Home with the Consent of Only One Resident?
Police entry into a shared residence is a matter of considerable importance to the administration of criminal justice — and one which Parliament has to date left unaddressed. Police frequently attend residences to investigate suspected or ongoing criminal activity. Many of those residences are inhabited by more than one person with authority to permit third parties to enter the home. If a resident cannot consent to police entry to a shared home without the consent of all the other residents, it undermines the dignity and autonomy of that resident — especially for a victim of a crime. Further, a rule, for instance, that the police may enter the common areas of a shared home only if they obtain consent from each and every person who lives there is unworkable. That one resident can consent to have police enter the home does not displace the privacy expectations of the other residents, however. I n the case of joint residents, the question is not wheth...