Public Law Lecture - Police Powers 2

Описание: The second part of a two-part series on police powers for students studying public law for the LLB or GDL.

This time we look at citizen's arrest under section 24A of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) as well as police arrest without a warrant under section 24.

Once arrested a person should be notified as to the reason as per Christie v Leachinsky [1947] and given the standard caution under Code of Practice C.

A suspect can only be held for a limited time without charge. Once they are charged they should be brought before a magistrate as soon as practicable as per section 40.

A person has the right to inform someone of the arrest (s. 56) and also has the right to legal advice from a solicitor (s. 58).

With thoughts towards Articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights the conditions of detention have to respect the rights of the suspect.

Questioning takes place at the police station under conditions which also respect the rights of the suspect. Questioning should also ensure that confessions (s 76) and other evidence (s 78) are not achieved through oppression.

The police also have the power to provide alternatives to prosecution when dealing with a suspect such as no further action, informal cautions and conditional cautions as set out in the Criminal Justice Act 2003.