CD & Anor v Director of Public Prosecutions (SA) & Anor

The High Court of Australia considered an appeal concerning the admissibility of evidence obtained from a search of a mobile phone. The appellants, CD and another individual, sought to exclude evidence derived from their mobile phones, which had been seized and searched by police pursuant to a search warrant. The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) opposed the exclusion of this evidence.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the search of the appellants' mobile phones, conducted without a specific warrant authorising the search of digital data, was lawful under the relevant South Australian legislation, specifically the *Summary Offences Act 1953* (SA). This involved determining the scope of police powers to search electronic devices seized under a warrant for physical items.

The Court reasoned that the statutory framework did not grant police the power to search the contents of a mobile phone without a specific warrant authorising such a search. The power to seize a physical item under a warrant did not extend to a general power to search its digital contents. The Court emphasised that the privacy interests inherent in digital data required clear legislative authorisation for its intrusion. Consequently, the search of the mobile phones was found to be unlawful, and the evidence derived from it was excluded.