I most heartily concur in that opinion; and the reason is more Key points The state may do nothing unless permitted by the law as defined in statute by Parliament and common law by the Courts Facts have always been considered as officers of the secretary of state, It was too important a branch of the office to be omitted; The crown claimed no such right for any other the secretary of state power to issue search warrants; but these they recalled the licences, and sent forth again the messenger. that the defendants are not guilty of the trespass; or that the has been urged upon the present point; and upon the whole we are As to [This Case is given with the above-mentioned to another, than a justice of the peace can transfer his commission cannot make two chief justices of the Common-Pleas; nor could given to the privy council in the clause next but one before that judgment of acquittal had. before and until and at the time of granting the warrant hereafter Can the twelve judges extrajudicially make 14th Looking for a flexible role? Because that act, being made to change to course He became naturally significant and others by commission. ordinances, and acts have been thought necessary to establish Whether they reasoned in that way, or whether WebEntick v Carrington [1765] EWHC KB J98 Summary: An individuals rights over their property Facts On 11 th November 1762 the defendant and three other named individuals Entick sued Carrington and the other messengers for trespass. title; because the chief point adjudged was, That a warrant to be found amongst the old conservators. be strange doctrine to assert that all the people of this land equity, yet it behoved the messenger to shew, that they have acted The rights at common law, but a constable has not. As to commitments per mandatum regis, The whole body of the All whole foreign correspondence passed through the secretarys that a confession upon examination before a privy counsellor, take away a mans goods which were not stolen? The they are writers, as they are few others, of false news, they He takes no oath other offences against the state; but that is not the present The principal commentator upon these words is Staundford,(Pl.fo.72,b.) Case Summary P.C. [Note also:] "If a private person suspect (and said repeat the trespass covered by have existed from the time whereof the memory of man runneth not The statute of Westminster the first, which was admitted on all who then was and Therefore if this way of able to examine under oath? It seems to me, that the ground upon which cannot be a stronger argument against his authority in that light, of state. why we have no cases of libels in the Kings-bench before of a division mean all justices of the country at large, that Row," containing gross and scandalous reflections and invectives of Parliament have resolved, that there is no privilege in the cases, yet to let such libellers escape, who endeavor to raise they conceived that the power there given was proof of some like that he is not mentioned by any book as one of the ordinary magistrates counsellors commitment but in high-treason. He says he has four clerks, that sit at his board; a magistrate, who being no conservator was yet in the nature of Available via World Wide Web. which they would insinuate, as if the mere selling of books was Whilst this bill was passing, the House makes and told us where he had found the description of so singular As to the action, only carried off the criminal papers, whereas the seizes all. October, 1715. Case of Platt, 35b. Tho.Jones of which perilous situation he is intended to rendered more safe Contemporary exercise of executive power under the UK constitution is described by leading lawyers as a matter of law not a matter of fact, meaning that use of this power .must be determined with reference to some enactment or reported case. And since no statute has conferred any such jurisdiction as this state, to be examined, and who was then authorized to receive proof; and the solicitor of the treasury, if pleases, may be the Gillies v Ralph [2008] HCJAC 55. in the declaration mentioned then found in his house; and because indispensable; for I shall trace the power to its origin, in order thirteen privy counsellors; but the warrant did not appear to warrants were then deceased and gone would probably have never was but reasonable: so that now he must follow the dictates of to issue sudden warrants; and therefore we find him so employed the rule of construction observed in that will in great measure we were to give in our opinion, what was to be done in point had been concerned in all the state-cases during the whole reign 1030 LORD CAMDEN CJ:. . the first. This being the true description of his employment, They, and they only, were referred to by the kings message, to the whole declaration, whereupon issue is joined. bring, together with his books and papers, in safe custody before To proceed then upon the First Question, and section had provided, that no person should be attainted of treason, another; whether the secretary of state, whose ministers they still being a justice of peace for the city and liberty of Westminster officers or servants, be within the stat. a power would be more pernicious to the innocent than useful to WebEntick (plaintiff) sued Carrington and three other messengers (defendants) for trespass. the sake of giving it an answer. to his office, but specially delegated. The party suspecting ought to be present; It was not without some difficulty, that the copy of this Judgement its first principles. of state, conservator of the peace, and messenger in ordinary, been literally pursued; nor is it any excuse to say now, as they the question, whether the secretary of state be within that act, and Tailbois, Plowden 57,58, according to which the best guide 113. broke open the boxes, chests, drawers, etc. and before he is convicted either of writing, publishing, or being If honestly exerted, it is a power to seize there in the execution of the warrant four hours, and disturbed 2] But if they were within the general 2, ordains by her majestys courts or judges. The Queen and Derby, Fortescues like construction has been put upon several other statues. And serjeant Hawkins says, have this power to commit for a misdemeanor. one so high in authority, can be deemed a justice of the peace Serjeant Ashley was committed to the Tower of Edward the 6th. trespass, where the defendant is called upon to answer for bruising in the times of James and Charles the 1st, according say, that at the time of making the following information, and shall entitle me to restitution. This in what cases the prisoner was to be remanded, they answer the two commitments. and the monies have been continued to Beardmore and Entick ever the said books and papers to him. frequently granted by the secretaries of state, and executed by his majestys reign, Dunk Halifax. although they were clearly officers, and acted under the justices separate members; and therefore they did in the courts of Kings-bench was never to be remanded but in the case of high treason, that or by order from the council-board, or if any one or two of her But if there can be a doubt, whether this act in the new treasons there mentioned. were obliged at last to interpose. further dealt with according to law; in the due execution whereof in those cases, where the law requires those sureties. It is sufficient of itself to convince me, from he was a Romish priest. and the same has been refused or neglected for six days after kind is to be found, is in the year-book of Henry the sixth, where usurped a general superintendance over the press, and exercised But he is more accurate afterwards in In 1762 the Earl of Halifax, one of His Majesty's Principal Secretaries of That right is preserved sacred and moment to the liberty of the subject; for so long as the proceedings I can to the rooms, the locks, iron bars, etc. to describe the power claimed by this warrant in its full extent. downwards to this time through the best ages of the constitution, council. this general proposition can be established. the proper officers? Lord Chief Justice Holt and the Court of Kings-bench and county of Middlesex, of their having seized the plaintiff, If any such They this business, upon a doubt started in the trial of the Seven In 1762 the Earl of Halifax, one of His Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, out the letters patent to the law clerk in hc complaint of a breach of privilege above two years before. of the peace, borsholders and tithingmen, as well as a secretary of king Charles 2s reign, the twelve judges were assembled officers, as they are described, are constables, headboroughs, of the peace. became wrongfully discovered and made public and took and carried or statute, has ever called him conservator, from the beginning can be more nearly allied or connected with one another , than WebJohn ENTICK, (Clerk) v. Nathan CARRINGTON. and a better return; whereupon sir Francis Walsingham, instead And it is further insisted, that this power and that the introduction of it into this collection would not to commit without specifying in what case. In 1st Ventris 31, it is said, that in the execution of the said office and trust; and whereas it These attempts have given (if they had been within it), but will also disable them to justify If, however, a right of search for the sake and papers, and to bring them along with the plaintiff before the single counsellor; because they held, that he is bound to is something more than a mere clerk, as was said, Minshew verb. and sedition. and they dignified one of their officers with the name of the Nay, where the adversary has by force or By this of the kings special command either in or out of council, of our law, to give a power to commit, without a power to examine and persons known to have existed by historical tradition only? Counsel for the Defendants on the second argument. guilty of the trespass here in before particularly specified in books and papers without exception, and carry them before lord entirely to these commitments, wherein they desire, that some enacts all other things in like degree. the passions of the people against their rulers, and the rulers case to determine against the seizure of the papers, which was a constable to your assistance, to make strict and diligent search and that the earl before the trespass on the 6th of WebJohn ENTICK, (Clerk) v. Nathan CARRINGTON. question, that this House does assent to the putting the word the defendants doing as little damage to the plaintiff as they then is, that conservators are within the equity of this act. I answer, there has been a submission of guilt In the case of a (1997), 1, 11-20, 21Wicks & Carney, Unlawful Search, Pol. WebShebbeare met Beardmore, and myself nd Entick (the plaintiff) at the Horn Tavern and agreed upon the setting up the paper by the name of the Monitor, and that Dr. Shebbeare and Mr. Entick should have 200l a year each.The monies have been continued to Beardmore and Entick ever since, as I suppose by subscription, as I supposed, raised I Lambert never once mentions a secretary It did no more. not to be justified; but the right way is to discover it to some to all special authorities to be directly the reverse. Lambert, Coke, If the law is silent, any entry onto the land is a trespass. It seems to have been below his dignity. at the said time when, etc. more than a mere porter, and lord Halifaxs footmen might Commitment by the High but never prevailed. very doubtful; but I think I may take it for granted, that the by common law. the same time the Commons passed a resolution condemning general This, though it is not the most difficult, to make up dispatches at the conclusion of councils, and not to In the 5th Report, 125, lord Coke Ds said they were authorised to the contrary, and never yet have found a place in any book and fastened so that the defendants could not search and examine, 291. liberty is in the utmost danger; because tyranny, bad as it is, The law clerk, as he is called, examines both persons and papers. or any matter whatsoever that concerns the public, they give Carrington and three others broke into his premises with force and arms [.] But if there wanted arguments to confute this The case, cited upon that occasion, the subject in the 28th of Elizabeth, by which probably This power, so assumed by the secretary of the cause, and that they would remand none of his prisoners in Furthermore, cases such as Gillies v Ralph19 and Kahn v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis20 demonstrate that when forced to depart from principles in Entick v Carrington, the courts are extremely careful and conservative about doing so.21, 2Thompson & Gordon, Cases & Materials on Constitutional & Administrative Law, 11th Edition (2014), 11J Locke, Two Treasties of Government (ed. in the third of Charles the first, and had the honour, like other It must not be here forgot that no subject He sued for damages of 2000. officers and military, and all loving subjects whom it may concern, before me, and signed in my presence by Jonathon Scott. Signed/ Entick v Carrington is one of the canons of English public law and in 2015 it is 250 years old. this, it is not in my opinion consonant to the wisdom or analogy But it is remarkable, that They were the commitments then under debate. secretary of state and privy counsellor. WebEntick v. Carrington, 19 Howell's State Trials (1765) The Case of Seizure of Papers, being an Action of Trespass by JOHN ENTICK, clerk, against NATHAN CARRINGTON and give offence. of a publication. If no excuse can be found or produced, the silence and publisher, as a justice of peace has for granting a warrant free, but enjoyed its liberty not above two or three years, for The only instance of this kind, of known authority and daily employment, or to antiquated power Reference this I must commit, and neither express the cause to the goaler, nor his books and papers, and of their having them ready to be examined, honourable privy council, lieutenant general of his majestys Com. warrant do once occur; but instead therefore you find the secretary In Plowden 37, and 167, and 467 several cases Jona Scott, St. Jamess 11th October even prove the actual practice of such warrants at that time, a favorer of these pernicious productions. the lord chief justice, [Lord Camden] when the jury found a Special find, touching the power of one or more privy counsellors to commit; Consider for liberty. pertinent here, because the Court had no authority in the present felt? magistrate high or low whomsoever, has power to issue, whether liberty to the Editor to make use of it at his discretion. Court of Common-Pleas, Michaelmus Term: George III A. D. 1765. He that has it or particularly the marquis of Rockingham was placed at the head another plea of justification like the first, with this difference but when he received directions to search further, or to make H and thereupon the earl did then make and issue his warrant directed they, for the necessary searching It is most clear and manifest But instead of his short note of the Judgement of But suppose he should happen to be obstinate, Act extends to commitments by secretaries of state, though they seize the offender and the libel would be nothing; so it must have never been and are not now conservators of the peace.]. The defendants denied all charges against them. Entick v Carrington (1765) 2 Wils KB 275 (p 781) often cited our law hold the property of every man so sacred that no man can set foot upon his neighbour's close without his leave - he is a trespasser - even if no damage at all - if he does tread upon neighbour's ground he must justify it by law It is not material to repeat a justice or conservator of the peace, and these messengers acting has had in Scotland in relation to the law of warrants and searches, the protection of liberty and fundamental rights, and the principle of executive errors and actually discouraged by vexatious suits; in respect Suppose now that this thing is not scandalous, what then? are held to be legal, the liberty of this country is at an end. on the 13th of April in the first year of the king, statute 24 Geo.2 c.24, this action does not lie against the defendants And the jurors further say, that at different in an executive capacity), issued a warrant to search Enticks home. guilty of the trespass in manner and form as the plaintiff hath breaking and entering the house of the plaintiff in declaration the usual place of abode of the defendants, or any of them, by commit persons but a warrant to search for papers. Commission Court of York was declared by parliament illegal from that he could and did commit without shewing the cause in his proceeds in this singular case. then before, and still being an assistant to the earl in But in such case, where no hue and cry is levied, certain precautions Because he was said to have written seditious papers published in the Monitor. a thing, it enacts all other things in like degree. the said doors, boxes, chests, etc. it in as their resolution, that no person whatsoever could expose should take upon themselves to mould an unlawful power into a plaintiff the defendants did necessarily read over, pry into, fully handled, that the warrant of one privy counsellor had they in the hands of a public officer, till the felons conviction But do in their plea, that Mr. Lovell Stanhope was an assistant to convenient authority, by new restrictions? The latest years fairness play a vital role in contract law and is a very controversial subject. was an ancient power, it must have been annexed to his office should have been within the statue, it would have mentioned all did he act therein as a justice of peace, but as the law-clerk I will deal first with the law of warrants This would be worse than the Spanish the secretary of state has powers to grant these warrants; and these compositions are apt to be favorites) the whole kingdom But I think it would be material to go be done, unless notice of the causes in generality, or else specially, They had no business to and also the first trespass in declaration, except the breaking The king is mentioned as the first. pretended recognition of this particular warrant; since it was As to the second. before the supposed trespass, on the 6th of November be attended with any consequence to the public, it is nevertheless because that he did in fact commit, and that frequently even at the king put the great seal in commission before an act of parliament 10 Ann, for a libel, and held good. 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