Requirements for issuing of warrant
(1) A judge or magistrate must not issue a warrant under section 82 unless satisfied that— (a) the Regulator has given seven days' notice in writing to the occupier of the premises in question demanding access to the premises; (b) either— (i) access was demanded at a reasonable hour and was unreasonably refused; or (ii) although entry to the premises was granted, the occupier unreasonably refused to comply with a request by any of the Regulator's members or staff to permit the members or the members of staff to do any of the things referred to in section 82(2); and (c) that the occupier, has, after the refusal, been notified by the Regulator of the application for the warrant and has had an opportunity of being heard on the question whether the warrant should be issued.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply if the judge or magistrate is satisfied that the case is one of urgency or that compliance with that subsection would defeat the object of the entry.
(3) A judge or magistrate who issues a warrant under section 82 must also issue two copies of it and certify them clearly as copies.
What this means for your estate
- A warrant generally can't be issued unless the Regulator first gave your estate seven days' written notice demanding access, and access was either unreasonably refused or unreasonably obstructed once granted (subsection (1)), cooperating with an initial access request is the clearest way to avoid ever reaching warrant stage.
- Subsection (2) is the exception: none of this applies if the case is urgent or if following the notice procedure would defeat the point of the search.
Cooperating early with a Regulator access request, backed by PopiGuard's ready compliance records, is what keeps most estates well short of s.82-83 warrant territory.