Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act

Marginal note:Issuance of search warrant

• 12 (1) A judge of a province to whom an application is made under subsection 11(2) may issue a search warrant authorizing a peace officer named therein to execute it anywhere in the province, where the judge is satisfied by statements under oath that there are reasonable grounds to believe that

  • (a) an offence has been committed;

  • (b) evidence of the commission of the offence or information that may reveal the whereabouts of a person who is suspected of having committed the offence will be found in a building, receptacle or place in the province; and

  • (c) it would not, in the circumstances, be appropriate to make an order under subsection 18(1).

• Marginal note:Commissioner of Competition

  (1.1) The judge may, in addition to or instead of a peace officer, authorize the Commissioner of Competition appointed under subsection 7(1) of the Competition Act or his or her authorized representative named in the warrant to execute the search warrant, in which case the Commissioner or his or her representative, as the case may be, has, in relation to the warrant, all of the powers and duties that are set out for a peace officer in this section and sections 13 and 14.

• Marginal note:Conditions

  (2) A judge who issues a search warrant under subsection (1) may subject the execution of the warrant to any conditions that the judge considers desirable, including conditions relating to the time or manner of its execution.

• Marginal note:Hearing re execution

  (3) A judge who issues a search warrant under subsection (1) shall fix a time and place for a hearing to consider the execution of the warrant as well as the report of the peace officer concerning its execution.

• Marginal note:Contents of warrant

  (4) A search warrant issued under subsection (1) may be in Form 5 in Part XXVIII of the Criminal Code, varied to suit the case, and must

  • (a) set out the time and place for the hearing mentioned in subsection (3);

  • (b) state that, at that hearing, an order will be sought for the sending to the state or entity of the records or things seized in execution of the warrant; and

  • (c) state that every person from whom a record or thing is seized in execution of the warrant and any person who claims to have an interest in a record or thing so seized has the right to make representations at the hearing before any order is made concerning the record or thing.

• Marginal note:Execution

  (5) A peace officer who executes a search warrant issued under subsection (1) shall, before entering the place or premises to be searched or as soon as practicable thereafter, give a copy of the warrant to any person who is present and appears to be in charge of the place or premises.

• Marginal note:Affixing a copy

  (6) A peace officer who, in any unoccupied place or premises, executes a search warrant issued under subsection (1) shall, on entering the place or premises or as soon as practicable thereafter, cause a copy of the warrant to be affixed in a prominent place within the place or premises.