What is a Search Warrant and what is its function?

Answer 1

US Answer Only: A search warrant is the instrument which protects the citizen against unreasonable searches and seizures of their person, papers and belongings. The search warrant is the safeguard by which The State is kept in check from running amok. In the process of a search warrant, The State is required to demonstrate to a judge (usually) that the thing to be sought and seized is (usually) either illegal to possess, or further evidence of a crime. The search warrant must (usually) pass muster from one's District Attorney and local judge prior to execution. Essentially, the search warrant presents the argument as to why the intrusion into someone's privacy does not constitute a violation of their fourth amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. The document must lay out very specific particulars which must be "within the four corners of the document," meaning that the issue of "particularity" must be satisfied with regard to thing sought, location, and what are the facts known to The State that justify the intrusion.