Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1975

321 Warrants of apprehension and search

(1) A warrant of apprehension or search may be in the form, as nearly as may be, of the appropriate form contained in Part IV of Schedule 2 to the Summary Jurisdiction (Scotland) Act 1954 or in an Act of Adjournal under this Act, and any warrant of apprehension or search shall, where it is necessary for its execution, imply warrant to officers of law to break open shut and lockfast places.

(2) A warrant of apprehension of an accused person in such form as aforesaid shall imply warrant to officers of law to search for and to apprehend the accused, and to bring him before the court issuing the warrant, or before any other court competent to deal with the case, to answer to the charge on which such warrant is granted, and, in the meantime, until he can be so brought, to detain him in a police station house, police cell, or other convenient place.

(3) A person apprehended under any such warrant as aforesaid or by virtue of the powers possessed at common law, or conferred by statute, shall wherever practicable be brought before a court competent to deal with the case either by way of trial or by way of remit to another court not later than in the course of the first lawful day after such person shall be taken into custody, such day not being a public or local holiday.

(4) A warrant of apprehension or other warrant shall not be required for the purpose of bringing before the court an accused person who had been apprehended without a written warrant or who attends without apprehension in answer to any charge made against him.

(5) A warrant of apprehension of a witness in the appropriate form shall imply warrant to officers of law to search for and apprehend the witness, and to detain him in a police station house, police cell, or other convenient place, until the date fixed for the hearing of the case, unless sufficient security be found, to the amount fixed in the warrant for the appearance of such witness at all diets of court.