THE CONTROVERSIAL police searches of two lawyers' offices on Monday and Tuesday were carried out after warrants were issued under Section 23 of the Mutual Assistance (Criminal Matters) Act.
Section 23 (1) states that Where
(a) a proceeding or investigation relating to a criminal matter has commenced in a relevant foreign state;
(b) there are reasonable grounds for believing that an article (not being tainted property) relevant to the proceeding or investigation is located in Jamaica; and
(c) the relevant foreign state requests the Central Authority to arrange for the issue of a search warrant under this section in relation to that article, the Central Authority may authorise a police officer to apply to a Resident Magistrate for the search warrant requested by the relevant foreign state.
Section 2 states: Where a police officer authorised under subsection (1) has reason to believe that the articles to which the request relates is, or will, at a specified time be
(a) on a person or in his possession or under his control; or
(b) upon any land or upon or in any premises, the police officer may lay before a Resident Magistrate an information on oath setting out the grounds for that belief and apply for the issue of a warrant under this section to search the person, land or premises for that article.
