Search Orders and Anton Piller Orders: A UK Business Guide

Reviewed by the Legal Foundations editorial team. Last updated: February 2026.

A search order is one of the most powerful interim remedies available in civil litigation in England and Wales. It compels a defendant to permit the claimant to enter their premises, search for specified materials, and seize or copy them — all without advance warning to the defendant. The order is designed for situations where evidence would otherwise be destroyed before a court could act.

Originally known as an “Anton Piller order” after the 1976 Court of Appeal decision that established them, search orders are now governed by Civil Procedure Rule 25.1(1)(h) and the Practice Direction accompanying Part 25. This guide explains what search orders are, the conditions for obtaining one, how they are executed, the rights of the person subject to the order, and when search orders are relevant to SMEs and businesses.

Origins: The Anton Piller Case

The jurisdiction to grant search orders was established in Anton Piller KG v Manufacturing Processes Ltd [1976] Ch 55, in which the Court of Appeal confirmed that English courts had inherent jurisdiction to order a defendant to permit inspection of their premises in cases where evidence was at serious risk of destruction.

The facts involved a German manufacturer that believed an English agent was passing trade secrets to competitors. The risk that documents would be shredded before a hearing was real and urgent. The court held that in such circumstances a without-notice order compelling access was justified.

Anton Piller orders became notorious through their widespread (and sometimes abusive) use in copyright and intellectual property cases during the 1980s. Following a number of high-profile cases where orders were obtained on misleading evidence or executed in heavy-handed ways, Lord Woolf’s civil procedure reforms in 1999 introduced significant safeguards that are now embedded in the CPR.

What Search Orders Are Used For

Search orders are most commonly sought by businesses in three contexts:

Intellectual property infringement. A manufacturer or rights holder discovers that a former employee, distributor, or competitor is producing counterfeit goods or has stolen trade secrets, source code, or confidential designs. The risk is that if the defendant learns that legal proceedings are imminent, they will destroy or conceal the infringing materials.

Misuse of confidential information. An employee leaves to join a competitor and is suspected of taking customer lists, pricing data, or commercially sensitive documents. A search order allows the claimant to secure and copy those documents before they are deleted or moved offshore.

Software piracy. A software developer has evidence that a business is running unlicensed copies of their software. A search order enables inspection of the defendant’s hardware and systems.

The Conditions for Granting a Search Order

The court will only grant a search order where three stringent conditions are all satisfied (Anton Piller KG v Manufacturing Processes Ltd, confirmed in subsequent authorities):

1. An Extremely Strong Prima Facie Case

The claimant must demonstrate a very strong case on the merits — not merely an arguable case. The court will scrutinise the evidence carefully before making an order that deprives the defendant of notice and the opportunity to resist in advance.

2. Very Serious Potential or Actual Damage

The claimant must show that the harm they face (or are already suffering) is very serious. A modest financial dispute will not justify the extraordinary remedy of a without-notice entry to premises. The damage must be substantial and not adequately compensable by an ordinary interim injunction.

Search orders and Anton Piller orders — UK court remedy guide for businesses

3. Clear Evidence that the Defendant Would Destroy the Material

This is often the most critical condition. The claimant must provide evidence that, if given notice of proceedings, the defendant would or might destroy, conceal, or remove the relevant documents or materials before the case could be heard. The evidence does not need to be direct — courts will draw inferences from the defendant’s past conduct, the nature of the relationship between the parties, and the value of the materials at stake.

How to Apply for a Search Order

Search orders are applied for without notice to the defendant (ex parte in the old terminology, now called a without-notice application). An application with notice would defeat the purpose of the order.

Procedure: 1. The application is made to a High Court judge (typically in the Business and Property Courts) — search orders cannot be made in the County Court. 2. The applicant must file a sworn affidavit or witness statement setting out the full factual basis for the claim and must make full and frank disclosure of all facts material to the court’s decision, including any that might weigh against the application. 3. The applicant must provide undertakings in damages — a legally binding promise to compensate the defendant if the order turns out to have been wrongly granted. 4. The court will consider the application, usually at a private hearing with the applicant (and their lawyers) present but the defendant absent. 5. If granted, the order specifies precisely what premises may be searched, what categories of materials may be inspected and seized, and the detailed safeguards that must be followed.

The duty of full and frank disclosure is absolute. Obtaining a search order by withholding material facts will result in the order being set aside, an adverse costs award, and potential contempt of court proceedings.

How a Search Order is Executed

Execution of a search order is tightly regulated. The key safeguards are:

The Supervising Solicitor. The order must be served and overseen by an independent solicitor (the “supervising solicitor”) who is not a member of the claimant’s legal team. The supervising solicitor’s role is to ensure the order is executed lawfully and that the defendant’s rights are protected throughout.

Timing. Service must take place at a reasonable time of day — during business hours on a weekday, unless the court has specifically ordered otherwise. Executing a search order at 6am on a Saturday is not permitted without specific judicial authority.

Prior notice of rights. Before entry, the supervising solicitor must:

  • Explain the order and the defendant’s rights in plain language
  • Hand the defendant a copy of the order and the supporting materials
  • Advise the defendant of their right to seek legal advice before permitting entry
  • Allow a reasonable time (usually two hours) for the defendant to consult a solicitor

Women and residential premises. Where the premises are a private residence and the defendant is likely to be an unaccompanied woman (and the supervising solicitor is not also a woman), the order will typically require that a woman accompanies the supervising solicitor during execution.

Restricted scope. The search must be strictly limited to the categories of material described in the order. The claimant’s solicitors may not simply rummage through everything on the premises.

The Rights of the Person Subject to a Search Order

Receiving a search order is alarming. If your business or premises are subject to one, you have important rights:

The right to see the order. You are entitled to read the order in full before deciding whether to comply.

The right to consult a solicitor first. You may delay entry for a reasonable period (typically around two hours) to obtain urgent legal advice. Use this right — a solicitor with experience in commercial litigation can often identify grounds on which the order can be challenged or its scope limited.

The right to apply to discharge or vary the order. A search order is an interim remedy. If it was obtained on misleading evidence, if the conditions for granting it were not met, or if its terms are disproportionate, you can apply to the court to discharge or vary it. Such an application is usually urgent and should be made as soon as possible.

The right not to incriminate yourself. You cannot be compelled by a search order to answer questions that might expose you to criminal liability.

What you cannot do. You cannot obstruct or refuse to comply with a validly served search order — doing so is a contempt of court, which can lead to imprisonment. If you believe the order is wrong, the remedy is a rapid application to the court, not resistance.

Relationship with Other Injunctions and Orders

Search orders are typically accompanied by or sought alongside other interim relief:

Freezing injunctions (Mareva injunctions). Where the defendant might also dissipate assets, a freezing order preventing disposal of assets up to a specified value is often sought simultaneously with a search order.

Delivery-up orders. The court can order infringing goods or materials to be delivered to the claimant or to a neutral third party pending trial, rather than merely copied.

Prohibitory injunctions. A conventional without-notice injunction restraining the defendant from continuing the infringing activity can be sought alongside a search order.

See our full guide to injunctions for UK businesses for the broader framework of interim injunctions.

Costs and Risk

Applying for a search order that turns out to have been granted on insufficient grounds is expensive. The claimant must give an undertaking in damages — if the defendant establishes that the order was wrongly obtained, the claimant may face a substantial award of compensation for the disruption caused by the search. Courts take the without-notice procedure seriously precisely because of the potential for abuse.

Applicants should be very confident of both their evidence and the strength of their underlying claim before seeking a search order.

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Get Legal Advice

Search orders are High Court remedies that require specialist handling on both sides. If you believe you need a search order, or if a search order has been served on your business, you need immediate legal advice.

We can connect you with a specialist commercial litigation lawyer who can advise on whether a search order is appropriate, or who can represent you if one has been served.

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