Is it permissible to search my phone when making an arrest?
Disclaimer: This is a legal article that provides information that does not replace consulting a competent lawyer to help you and for more accurate information.
In the event of a legally permissible seizure, the person in custody and his belongings may be searched. Article 43 of the Code of Criminal Procedure states:
The criminal investigation officer may – in cases where it is legally permissible to arrest the accused – search him. The inspection includes his body, clothes and luggage. If the accused is a woman, the search must be by a woman seconded by the criminal officer
The phone that is with the person can be considered, in origin, as his luggage. But inspection is not open without limits; Article 46 states:
A search may only be conducted to search for items related to the crime about which information is being collected, or to investigate it. However, if during the search it appears that there are items whose possession constitutes a crime, or is useful in revealing the truth about another crime, the criminal investigation officer must seize them and prove them in the search report.” “
Accordingly, the search is related to items related to the crime in question, with the exception of what appears to be incidental according to the text.
Messages, telephone conversations and other means of communication
It has a special sanctity. Article fifty-six states:
“mails, telegrams, telephone conversations, and other means of communication are inviolable, and they may not be viewed or monitored except by a reasoned order and for a specific period, in accordance with what is stipulated in this system.” “
Article 57 stipulates that the Public Prosecutor may order the seizure of letters, letters, printed materials, and parcels, and authorize the monitoring and recording of telephone conversations if this would be useful in revealing the truth about a crime that has occurred, provided that the order or authorization is reasoned and limited to a period not exceeding ten days, renewable in accordance with the requirements of the investigation.
Photos, files, applications and data stored inside the phone
The materials verified here do not provide a detailed, explicit text detailing the ruling on examining them in each case. Therefore, it cannot be asserted, based on these materials alone, that they have a completely identical ruling to letters and conversations, or that the arrest warrant alone permits or does not permit examining them all.
Defense-related correspondence remains protected; Article Eighty-Four states:
“The investigator may not seize any papers or documents held by the accused’s agent or lawyer that the accused handed over to him to perform the task entrusted to him, nor any correspondence exchanged between them in the case.”
Conclusion: The arrested person and his belongings may be searched within the limits of the crime under procedure, and messages, conversations and means of communication are subject to a reasoned order and for a specific period. As for the scope of examining the rest of the data stored in the phone, the texts verified here do not decide it with a conclusive detailed ruling.
For law and legal consultations..Contact the office of lawyer Abdul Majeed Al Rashid.
References
- Article Forty-One of the Code of Criminal Procedure
- Article Forty-Three of the Code of Criminal Procedure
- Article Forty-Six of the Code of Criminal Procedure
- Article Fifty-Six of the Code of Criminal Procedure
- Article Fifty-Seven of the Code of Criminal Procedure
- Article Eighty-Four of the Code of Criminal Procedure
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