# Claim 474

The High Court found the search warrant used against Smethurst was invalid because it failed to specify the offense under investigation.

Published 2026-09-22. Last reviewed 2026-09-22. 1 source.

- Statement: The High Court found the search warrant used against Smethurst was invalid because it failed to specify the offense under investigation.
- Field: occurred_on
- Value: 2020-04-15
- About: [incident 2020-australia-high-court-invalidates-smethurst-warrant](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-australia-high-court-invalidates-smethurst-warrant)
- Source: Charges against News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst still possible after High Court throws out AFP warrant. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-15/annika-smethurst-wins-afp-fight-high-court/12147706
- Publisher: ABC News (Australia)
- Method: outlet report
- Checked: 2026-09-22
- Confidence: medium
- Status: current
- Source date: 2020-04-15

## Quotation from the source

> the warrant was invalid because it failed to specify the offence being investigated.

Source page: https://thewaronnews.com/claims/474. The War On News, CC BY 4.0.