LIA4005 – CRIMINAL PROCEDURE 1

SEMESTER 1, 2023/2024
TUTORIAL 4
SEARCH & SEIZURE

1. How many mode of search available under the Criminal Procedure Code?

2. When may search be conducted on the body of a person?

3. When may premises be searched without warrants?

4. When may court issue a search warrant?

5. What are the consequences if a search list is not prepared?

6. What is the effect of the following? Cite relevant cases to support your answer.
(a) Unlawful search

(b) Unlawful seizure

7. Inspector Hadi, accompanied by a police party of Balai Polis Jalan Travers, on

information obtained went to a nightspot located in Bangsar. The information was
regarding the selling of prohibited drugs, which was reported to have taken place at
Let’s Boogie, a spot famous for its outrageous activities. At the entrance, the police
party was refused entry by the security guard, Selamat. Losing his patience, Inspector
Hadi instructed his men to force entry and when Selamat resisted, Inspector Hadi
ordered his men to arrest him before proceeding to break into the place.
Having brought down the door, Inspector Hadi and his men proceeded to search the
place, in the presence of Selamat. When asked on the whereabouts of the suspected
drugs, Rosam said he would not be answering anything as that was the instruction of his
boss, Dev Pateel. On searching the property the police found several boxes, neatly
stacked behind the colourful curtains containing what looked very much like pills. The
police suspected that these could be the Ecstacy pills they suspected to be hidden and
seized those. Sarjan Tompel took all the boxes back to the Police Station.
Later, police investigations revealed that Dev Pateel was in fact involved in the business
of making jamu, from a recipe inherited from his Indonesian mother and the pills seized
were actually jamu pills, which just came out from the factory and awaiting to be
properly boxed in their special boxes. Dev Pateel now wants to sue the police force for
what he claims to be unlawful search and seizure. As a result of the seizure of jamu and
undue retention of them, the jamu have all gone bad.

Discuss whether Dev Pateel has any grounds for his claims.
8. Sergeant Hisham headed the team in a raid at unit P118, a luxury condominium in
Bangsar South after receiving information that several foreign women were held captive
there. A warrant was obtained from Magistrate Aneeta.
When the police arrived at the condominium, the security officer informed the unit
resident with regard to the presence of the police. Five minutes later, two men aged
between 30 – 45 years and a well-dressed woman were detained at the lobby when
they attempted to pass the police checkpoint at the lobby. When questioned about the
unit number of their residence, they each gave different unit numbers. The building
manager later verified that all three of them were residents of unit P118.
Upon searching the said unit, 15 foreign women aged between 16 – 22 years were
found hidden behind detachable walls and cupboards.
15 diamond bracelets, 40 gold chains, various types of jewelry and several pen drives
which contained recordings of the women being tortured and raped were also found. In
addition, 20 handcuffs, 5 guns with 10 boxes of ammunition and 2 laptops were also
found.
The foreign women were detained and brought to the police station. All the items found
were seized. Both the men and women detained at the lobby were handcuffed and
brought to the police station.

Advise Sergeant Hisham on the procedures in relation to search, seizure and arrest
that
must be adhered to in the handling of this case.

9. A detective corporal, armed with a search warrant, entered a house stated therein and
looked for a Kelvinator refrigerator, a Sony video-taped recorder, a 20-inch Sony
television set and an assortment of crockery suspected to be stolen. He could not find
them. Instead, he found some expensive designer clothes and shoes, handbags and
other ladies’ accessories reported stolen from a boutique the previous day.

(a) What should the detective corporal do in the circumstances? Why?

(b) Would it make any difference if what the detective corporal had found was a
blood-stained chopper in a bedroom cupboard and spots of dried blood near the
bedroom door and the back door? Why?