Search orders are one of, if not the most, draconian orders the courts can make. The recent decision in Calor Gas Ltd v Chorley Bottle Gas Ltd and others (Calor Gas) contains two points of particular significance:
- The extent to which questions of public interest, and in particular public safety, may be factored into the court’s decision.
- How giving careful consideration to making execution of a search order “COVID-secure” will assist the applicant’s cause when the court is weighing up the proportionality of the order.
The safeguarding measures taken by the applicant also stand in stark contrast to the failings observed in this respect by the Court of Appeal in another recent judgment, TBD (Owen Holland) Ltd v Simons and others (TBD).
