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Campbell v H.M. Advocate 1992 SCCR 35

Campbell v H.M. Advocate 1992 SCCR 35


Citation: Campbell v H.M. Advocate 1992 SCCR 35

Link to case on WorldLII.

Rule of thumb: How do Police meet the test of ‘reasonable suspicion’ to be able to stop & search a person for possession of drugs? A tip from a reliable informant is sufficient to raise reasonable suspicion to allow Police to stop & search someone. If however, there was no reasonable suspicion of a person, and the person is still stopped & searched randomly and found to have drugs, this was an illegal stop & search which can be overturned on a technicality.

Judgment:

“When the vehicle was stopped by the police with the prior knowledge which they had and the vehicle was found to contain not merely the two men whose names the police officers already had but a third party, namely the appellant, we are satisfied that in the circumstances the police officers were entitled to conclude reasonably that that person, namely the third party, was in possession of drugs and that therefore they had authority to search him and to detain him for the purpose of searching him.” Per Lord Justice-Clerk at p.39.

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Warning: This is not professional legal advice. This is not professional legal education advice. Please obtain professional guidance before embarking on any legal course of action. This is just an interpretation of a Judgment by persons of legal insight & varying levels of legal specialism, experience & expertise. Please read the Judgment yourself and form your own interpretation of it with professional assistance.