Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. It prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures and sets requirements for issuing warrants: warrants must be issued by a judge or magistrate, justified by probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and must particularly describe the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.
The Bill of Rights in the National Archives
The hand-written copy of the proposed Bill of Rights, 1789, cropped to show just the text that would later be ratified as the Fourth Amendment
Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden established the English common law precedent against general search warrants.
Massachusetts lawyer James Otis protested British use of general warrants in the American colonies.
Search and seizure is a procedure used in many civil law and common law legal systems by which police or other authorities and their agents, who, suspecting that a crime has been committed, commence a search of a person's property and confiscate any relevant evidence found in connection to the crime.
Dareton police search the vehicle of a suspected drug smuggler in Wentworth, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, near the border with Victoria.
