Consent is not enough

President Miriam Naor
Supreme Court of Israel

The High Court of Justice in Jerusalem has rejected a government appeal seeking to overturn a ruling concerning the power of military officials to conduct consent searches of soldiers' telephones unless they have a warrant. The Jerusalem Post has the story. Excerpt:

The High Court of Justice rejected a military prosecution appeal on Monday that sought to overturn a previous court ruling barring warrantless searches of soldiers’ cellphones. 

The decision led by the court’s president Miriam Naor did not take a stance on the military prosecution’s argument – that only a soldier’s consent is needed to search his or her cellphone, not a warrant.

However, Naor said that legislation should be considered, not an appeal in the courts, if warrantless searches are necessary. 

The High Court said that a previous ruling by a military court of appeals in November 2016 stands. The decision requires the military police to obtain a warrant to search soldiers phones, even if the soldier consents to the search.

“The fundamental question before us is whether the consent of the suspect is adequate in order to authorize investigators to search a mobile phone – this question will remain theoretical and will not affect the outcome of the procedure,” the court’s decision said.