Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Police powers of arrest
- Arrest without a warrant
- Section 24 of PACE sets out the
powers of the police to arrest a
person without a warrant. Changed
when the Serious Organised Crime
and Police Act 2005 (SOCPA) came
into force.
- The police are
now able to
arrest a person:
- Where an offence has or may have
been committed (Past)
- Where it is being or may be being
committed (Present)
- Where it is about to be committed (Future)
- The police must believe it
necessary to make an arrest for
one of the following reasons:
- To enable the persons name and address to
be ascertained
- To prevent the person
- Causing physical injury to himself or
another
- Suffering physical injury
- Causing loss or damage to property
- Committing an offence against public decency
- Causing an unlawful obstruction of the
highway
- To protect a child or
other vulnerable
person
- To allow a
prompt and
effective
investigation
- To prevent any
prosecution for the
offence from being
hindered by the
disappearance of the
person in question
- Guidelines for arrest under s24
- Where necessary the arresting officer
may use reasonable force and may
search the person.
- The arresting officer must inform the
suspect that they re under arrest even if
it is not obvious. There are no set words
that need to be used, provided that the
words are they must also be told the
grounds for the arrest and be taken to
the police station.
- Other powers of arrest
- Arrest with a warrant
- Section 1 of the Magistrates Court Act 1980
- The police may apply to the
magistrates for a warrant to arrest a
named person who is suspected of
committing an offence.
- The warrant will allow them to enter
a suspects home to make the arrest
- Arrest by private citizen
- Serious organised crime and police act
2005 allows private citizens to make an
arrest when someone is either in the act
of committing an indictable offence or
where they think someone is committing
an indictable offence
- Arrest for breach of the peace
- S26 of PACE specifies that this common
law right to arrest remains in addition to
the other powers of arrest.
- Bibby V Chief constable of Essex police 2000
specified that there are 4 certain criteria that
need to be established before the police can
arrest a person for such disturbance:
- Only a sufficiently real and present threat can
justify depriving a person of their liberty
- The threat must come from the person being arrested
- The conduct must interfere with the rights of others
- The conduct of the person must be unreasonable
- Arrest for breaching police bail
- A new S46A of PACE was created by the Criminal Justice and
Public Order Act 1994 giving the police the right to arrest without
warrant anyone released on police bail who fails to attend the
police station at the set times