Search on warrant by Garda - what is the procedure?

SDD

I have some questions about the procedures that have to be followed by the members of Garda while performing a search in the dwelling/premises having a search warrant.
1. Is a presence of witnesses required? Say, a member of Garda has found some illegal article (firearms, drugs, etc) and takes it them as evidences. If that happened without any witnesses, can such evidences be rejected by court on the basis that the accused person says "i have never seen this before, it was not found in my dwelling, etc" and there's nobody except a member of Garda who found the evidence to testify?
2. In case that the witnesses must be present, how many witnesses there have to testify each evidence found by a member of Garda in their presence?
3. Can the other members of Garda be the witnesses of the search and testify each evidence? How the judges normally accept such evidences (testified by the members of Garda, but not the independent/civil witnesses) if the accused person refuses the fact that the evidence was found in his dwelling?
4. If the members of Garda can be the witnesses during the search process, can they also be involved in the search process itself (opening the boxes, wardrobe, searching for evidences, etc) or they must only act as regular civil witnesses (just watch and testify without any interference in the search process)?
5. Upon the completion of the search and gathering all things that the member of Garda considers to be evidences, does that member of Garda have to produce a list of the evidences that have been found during the search and taken as the evidences? Or they just can take everything that they want and leave?
6. If the answer is "YES" to the first question in (5), does the list have to be signed by the witnesses and the people who were present in the premises when the Garda stepped into the premises and commenced the search process? Is the member Garda obliged to leave a copy of the list with the owner/tenant/occupant of the premises?
7. Which law or document regulates the search procedure at all? A link on it would answer all these questions, but i couldn't find it so far.

Reloc8

SDD wrote: »

I have some questions about the procedures that have to be followed by the members of Garda while performing a search in the dwelling/premises having a search warrant.
1. Is a presence of witnesses required? Say, a member of Garda has found some illegal article (firearms, drugs, etc) and takes it them as evidences. If that happened without any witnesses, can such evidences be rejected by court on the basis that the accused person says "i have never seen this before, it was not found in my dwelling, etc" and there's nobody except a member of Garda who found the evidence to testify?No - that's a matter for the judge or jury to weigh up in assessing credibility.


2. In case that the witnesses must be present, how many witnesses there have to testify each evidence found by a member of Garda in their presence?See above


3. Can the other members of Garda be the witnesses of the search and testify each evidence? How the judges normally accept such evidences (testified by the members of Garda, but not the independent/civil witnesses) if the accused person refuses the fact that the evidence was found in his dwelling?Yes other members can be witnesses. Contradictory testimony on behalf of the accused is again to be weighed up by the judge or jury as to whether the prosecution evidence is accepted, beyond reasonable doubt.


4. If the members of Garda can be the witnesses during the search process, can they also be involved in the search process itself (opening the boxes, wardrobe, searching for evidences, etc) or they must only act as regular civil witnesses (just watch and testify without any interference in the search process)?In response to the first part of your question (can members be witnesses as to what happened in the search if they were involved in the search, Yes. I think this answers the question you raise here. NB there is no difference in protocol for the calling of witnesses between civil and criminal cases.



5. Upon the completion of the search and gathering all things that the member of Garda considers to be evidences, does that member of Garda have to produce a list of the evidences that have been found during the search and taken as the evidences? Or they just can take everything that they want and leave?It depends on the subject matter of the warrant and also on what has been found. Broadly however they can take anything they want and the argument over entitlement/relevance comes later. A person whose premises is being searched would be well advised to note themselves everything that is taken, and copy documents before originals are handed over. Property taken can be the subject of an application under the Police Property legislation to have it returned if not relevant to a continuing criminal investigation or case. The gardai will ultimately have to ennumerate/list in the course of statements to be disclosed to the defence in due course any items/material found in the property which are to be relied upon, stating where it was found, who handled it at all times, where it has been until trial etc - effectively establishing a 'chain' in relation to the material/items.


6. If the answer is "YES" to the first question in (5), does the list have to be signed by the witnesses and the people who were present in the premises when the Garda stepped into the premises and commenced the search process? Is the member Garda obliged to leave a copy of the list with the owner/tenant/occupant of the premises?No to all.


7. Which law or document regulates the search procedure at all? A link on it would answer all these questions, but i couldn't find it so far. There is no specific individual law or document which applies.

Answers in red above.