Entry powers: When the police can come into your home
Overview
The police don’t have any automatic right to come into your home. If you haven’t agreed to it, the police can only come inside if they’ve got a legal power to do this either because:
- they’ve got a warrant (written authority) from a court – for example, a search warrant or an arrest warrant
- they’re preventing or investigating a crime, or they’re enforcing the law.
This section explains when the courts can issue a warrant to the police and what the rules are around using warrants (“executing” them), and it explains when the police can enter without a warrant.
You can change your mind
If you’ve agreed to let the police come inside your home, you can change your mind at any time and the police then have to leave straightaway (unless something has given them a legal power to stay – for example, if they see a cannabis plant or other illegal drugs).
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