Question

Apply the given legal principles to the facts provided in the following of the question and select the most appropriate answer.
Principle : Any invasion of private property, howsoever minor, is a trespass unless it is expressly authorised by the law. Police personnel may enter and/or search private property only on express authorisation from a Judicial Officer.
Facts : Ms. A, a vocal critic of certain policies of the Queen of Asgardia, was due to lead a protest against prevailing government policies. Solely on the instructions of the Queen, a Police Officer secretly entered Ms. A residence to search through her computer and discover her plan for the protest. However, Ms. A’s laptop was at the repair shop and the Police Officer was forced to exit Ms. A’s house after a few seconds. Ms. A seeks to sue for trespass.

• A. Ms. A will be successful since the Queen was planning on quelling dissent through illegal means.
• B. Ms. A will be unsuccessful since the search was authorised by the Queen.
• C. Ms. A will be successful since the entry of the Police Officer constituted aninvasion of personal property without authorisation from a Judicial Officer.
• D. Ms. A will be unsuccessful since the Police Officer was at her residence for only a few seconds and was unable to access her computer. There was no invasion of personal property.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

To determine the correct answer, we must apply the legal principle of trespass to the facts provided. The principle states: "Any invasion of private property, howsoever minor, is a trespass unless it is expressly authorised by the law. Police personnel may enter and/or search private property only on express authorisation from a Judicial Officer." 

Analysis: The critical components of the principle are that any invasion of private property without judicial authorisation constitutes trespass. Here, Ms. A's property was entered by a Police Officer without such authorisation, merely under the Queen's instruction. The Queen's instruction does not equate to legal authorisation from a Judicial Officer, thus not complying with the specified legal principle.

Facts Assessment: The Police Officer entered the property based solely on the Queen's directive, which does not meet the principle's requirement for judicial authorisation. The absence of express authorisation from a Judicial Officer means the Officer's actions constitute a trespass, regardless of the duration of the entry or the outcome of the search.

Principle	Application
Any invasion of private property is a trespass unless authorised by law.	The Police Officer entered Ms. A's residence without judicial authorisation.
Police personnel can search only with judicial authorisation.	The search was authorised by the Queen, not a Judicial Officer.

Conclusion: Based on the above analysis, Ms. A would be successful in her legal action, as the entry by the Police Officer was an unauthorised invasion of her property. Therefore, the most appropriate answer is: Ms. A will be successful since the entry of the Police Officer constituted an invasion of personal property without authorisation from a Judicial Officer.