Warrant

A warrant is generally an order that serves as a specific type of, that is, a issued by a competent officer, usually a  or , which permits an otherwise illegal act that would violate  and affords the person executing the writ protection from  if the act is performed.

A warrant is usually issued by a and is directed to a, a , or a  officer. Warrants normally issued by a court include s, s, and s.

United Kingdom
In the, senior public appointments are made by warrant under the , the personal of the , on the recommendation of the government. In an interesting survival from medieval times, these warrants abate (lose their force) on the death of the sovereign if they have not already been executed. This particularly applied to death warrants in the days when authorized.

Perhaps the most celebrated example of this occurred on 17 November 1558, when England was under the rule of a Catholic queen,, daughter of and the Spanish Catholic. Several '' had been condemned to die, a not uncommon situation under 'bloody Mary's' reign. They were tied to stakes in, an open market area in central , and the firewood bundles were about to be lit, when a royal messenger rode up to announce that had died: the warrants for their death had lost their force. The first formal act of Mary's successor, the Protestant, daughter of Henry VIII and , was to decline to re-issue the warrants; the Protestants were released a few weeks later.

History
For many years, the English, later British, government had used a "general warrant" to enforce its laws. These warrants were broad in nature and did not have specifics as to why they were issued or what the arrest was being made for. A general warrant placed almost no limitations on the search or arresting authority of a soldier or sheriff. This concept had become a serious problem when those in power issued general warrants to have their enemies arrested when no wrongdoing had been done. The of  passed the Revenue Act of 1767 which reaffirmed the legality of, or general s, and gave customs officials broad powers to search houses and businesses for smuggled goods. This law was one of the key acts of Great Britain which led to the, and is the direct reason that the Founding Fathers ensured that general warrants would be illegal in the United States by ratifying the  to the U.S. Constitution in 1791.

Practice
Under the a warrant is broadly required which particularly describes the place to be searched, and the persons, or things, to be seized; and no warrants shall be issued, but upon probable cause, supported by testimony before a judge.

The courts have recognized many, including exceptions for routine administrative or inventory searches, searches made under exigent circumstances, and searches made with consent.

A typical arrest warrant in the will take the approximate form of: "This Court orders the  or Constable to find the named person, wherever he may be found, and deliver said person to the custody of the Court." Generally, a U.S. arrest warrant must contain the of the court issuing the warrant, the name (if known) of the person to be arrested, the offense charged, the date of issue, the officer(s) to whom the warrant is directed, and the signature of the magistrate. Warrants may also be issued by other entities, including s, since most have the  to compel the attendance of their members. When a legislature issues a warrant, it is called a.

The person being investigated, arrested, or having their property seized, pursuant to a warrant is given a copy of the warrant at the time of its execution.

Types of warrant

 * , issued by a judge to detain someone
 * , issued by a judge ordering enforcement of a previous order against an uncooperative person or corporation
 * , civil writ issued by a judge ordering property delivered to a named person
 * , writ issued by a judge allowing law enforcement officers to seize property
 * , writ issued by a judge authorizing the death of someone
 * , Australian judge order to terminate a residential real estate tenancy
 * , civil writ issued by a judge ordering property delivered to a named person
 * , writ issued by a judge allowing law enforcement officers to look inside a property