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A warrant is generally an order that serves as a specific type of authorization, that is, a writ issued by a competent officer, usually a judge or
magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...
, that permits an otherwise illegal act that would violate individual rights and affords the person executing the writ protection from damages if the act is performed. A warrant is usually issued by a
court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ...
and is directed to a sheriff, a constable, or a
police The police are a Law enforcement organization, constituted body of Law enforcement officer, persons empowered by a State (polity), state, with the aim to law enforcement, enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citize ...
officer. Warrants normally issued by a court include search warrants, arrest warrants, and execution warrants.


Types

* Arrest warrant, issued by a judge to detain someone * Execution warrant, writ issued by a judge authorizing the death of someone * Possessory warrant, a civil writ issued by a judge ordering property delivered to a named person * Search warrant, a writ issued by a judge allowing law enforcement to look inside a property * Warrant of committal, issued by a judge ordering enforcement of a previous order against an uncooperative person or corporation *
Warrant of delivery Warrant of delivery is a method of enforcing court judgments used in the legal systems of the United Kingdom and Canada. If someone has an item or goods belonging to another, who wishes these things to be returned, a warrant of delivery is the met ...
, a civil writ issued by a judge ordering property delivered to a named person * Warrant of execution, a writ issued by a judge allowing law enforcement officers to seize property * Warrant of possession, an Australian judge ordered to terminate of a residential real estate tenancy


United Kingdom

In the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
, senior public appointments are made by warrant under the '' royal sign-manual'', the personal
signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a Handwriting, handwritten (and often Stylization, stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and ...
of the monarch, on the recommendation of the government. In an interesting survival from medieval times, these warrants abate (lose their force) on the death of the sovereign if they have not already been executed. This particularly applied to death warrants in the days when
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
authorized
capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...
. Perhaps the most celebrated example of this occurred on 17 November 1558, when England was under the rule of a Catholic queen, Mary I, daughter of Henry VIII and the Spanish Catholic Catherine of Aragon. Several
Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
" heretics" had been condemned to die, a not uncommon situation under the reign of "Bloody Mary". They were tied to stakes in Smithfield, an open market area in central
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, and the firewood bundles were about to be lit, when a royal messenger rode up to announce that Mary I had died: the warrants for their death had lost their force. The first formal act of Mary's successor, the Protestant
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...
, daughter of Henry VIII and
Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and of her execution by beheading for treason and other charges made her a key f ...
, was to decline to re-issue the warrants; the Protestants were released a few weeks later.


United States


History

For many years, the English, later British, government had used a "general warrant" to enforce its laws. These warrants were broad in nature and did not have specifics as to why they were issued or what the arrest was being made for. A general warrant placed almost no limitations on the search or arresting authority of a soldier or sheriff. This concept had become a serious problem when those in power issued general warrants to have their enemies arrested when no wrongdoing had been done. The
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
of
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...
The Treaty (act) of the Union of Parliament 1706
, ''Scots History Online''
passed the Revenue Act of 1767 which reaffirmed the legality of
writs of assistance In common law, a writ (Anglo-Saxon ''gewrit'', Latin ''breve'') is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoena ...
, or general search warrants, and gave customs officials broad powers to search houses and businesses for smuggled goods. This law was one of the key acts of Great Britain which led to the
American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
, and is the direct reason that the
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
Founding Fathers ensured that general warrants would be illegal in the United States by ratifying the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1791.


Practice

Under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution a warrant is broadly required, which particularly describes the place to be searched, and the persons, or things, to be seized; no warrants may be issued without probable cause, and support by testimony before a judge. The courts have recognized many warrantless searches, including exceptions for routine administrative or inventory searches, searches made under exigent circumstances, and searches made with consent. A typical arrest warrant in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
will take the approximate form of: "This Court orders the Sheriff or Constable to find the named person, wherever he may be found, and deliver said person to the custody of the Court." Generally, a U.S. arrest warrant must contain the caption of the court issuing the warrant, the name (if known) of the person to be arrested, the offense charged, the date of issue, the officer(s) to whom the warrant is directed, and the signature of the magistrate.''Criminal Procedure for the Criminal Justice Professional''; John N. Ferdico, Henry Fradella, Christopher Totten; Cengage Learning; 2015
page 246
Warrants may also be issued by other
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...
entities, including
legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...
s, since most have the power to compel the attendance of their members. When a legislature issues a warrant, it is called a call of the house. The person being investigated, arrested, or having their property seized, pursuant to a warrant is given a copy of the warrant at the time of its execution.


See also

* Arrest Warrant of 11 April 2000 case, a case in public international law involving diplomatic immunity * Warrant canary, a method used by Internet service providers to inform their customers that the provider has been served with a secret government subpoena * '' Quo warranto'', a writ requiring the person to whom it is directed to show what authority they have for exercising some right or power (or "franchise") they claim to hold


References


External links

*
UK appointments made by warrant under the Royal sign manual
��from the '' London Gazette'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Warrant (Law) Law enforcement terminology *