Anton Piller order

In British and British-derived legal systems, an Anton Piller order (frequently misspelt as Anton Pillar order) is a court order which provides for the right to search premises without prior warning. This is used in order to prevent the destruction of incriminating evidence, particularly in cases of alleged copyright infringement.

The first such order was issued in the case of Anton Piller KG vs Manufacturing Processes Limited in 1976. Because such an order is essentially unfair to the accused party, Anton Piller orders are only issued exceptionally, when

1. There is an extremely strong prima facie case against the respondent,
2. The damage, potential or actual, must be very serious for the applicant, and
3. There must be clear evidence that the respondents have in their possession incriminating documents or things and that there is a real possibility that they may destroy such material before an Lord Denning