Authorities draw up warrants’ guidelines after setbacks

Authorities have drafted guidelines for police officers seeking arrest and search warrants in court in a bid to avoid them being thrown out in court because of gaps and technicalities, reports said on Tuesday.

The decision to draft guidelines was made in February after the supreme court cancelled several in separate cases.

A joint working group made up of state attorneys and police officers reviewed procedures and came up with guidelines for investigators to follow when applying in a bid to avoid mistakes or omissions that prompted the supreme court to cancel several, often relating to big cases.

According to Phileleftheros, often times officers just copied previous warrants and just changes the names, dates, and reasons.

However, in one case, which concerned an investigation into the cash transfers abroad during the closed period in 2013, the investigators cited laws that had since been amended, forcing the supreme court to throw out the warrant.

The new protocol instructs officers to ensure the information included is accurate and current, to provide detailed justification of the request, including what was being sought. Officers must also inform the court if other people are involved in the case, Phileleftheros said.

One of the cases in question was the cancellation of a search warrant issued by the Larnaca district court for the home of a teacher suspected of being the administrator of a parody account on Twitter that was reported by Justice Minister Emily Yiolitis as offensive.

There is also the cancellation of an arrest warrant concerning a foreign national linked with an investigation into a spy van.