Rights of Arrest

There are rights of arrest that come both with and without a warrant for the police and the rights of arrest for private citizens.

Arrest Without a Warrant

For this we look at Code G (Section 24) of PACE. Under this section, a constable may arrest without a warrant. This arrest can be done to anyone who is about to commit a crime or is currently committing an offence. The constable is also entitled to arrest anyone who he believes to be guilty of an offence. There are four ways this can happen:
- After the offence had been committed - anyone guilty or is a reasonable suspect can be arrested
- Past suspected offences - the constable can arrest anyone who he suspects to be guilty of the offence committed
- Present - anyone in the act of committing the offence or who he suspects to be committing on offence
- Future - anyone about to commit an offence or suspected on reasonable grounds to commit an offence
However, the constable must have reasonable grounds for his decision to arrest the suspect.

What constitutes reasonable grounds?
Reasonable grounds for the arrest of the suspect under Code G could be:
- Causing physical injury to himself/herself or any other person
- Suffering physical injury
- Causing loss of or damage to property
- To protect a child or vulnerable person from the person in question
- Drug possession

Arrest With a Warrant

A warrant is a formal document authorising the police to take the person in question into custody and then produce them at court. Since a warrant isn't normally necessary to effect an arrest, having one is a less usual method. Warrants are issued upon application by the police to a Justice of the Peace.

Rights of Arrest for a Citizen

Under Section 24A of PACE, someone other than the constable is able to arrest, but circumstances are limited. This is known as a citizens arrest and the reasons for this may be preventing the person in question from causing injury to the arrester, themselves or others or preventing property damage. Also to prevent the suspect from making off before the constable can assume their responsibility for them.

Other Statutory Rights of Arrest

There are 4 other rights of arrest to consider that come as statute.
Firstly is arrest as a preventive measure. This is when an arrest takes place to ensure that the person in question is prevented from making any criminal offences or causing harm to themselves or anyone else.
Secondly is a breach of peace. This is when an arrest takes place due to the suspect partaking in a criminal offence.
Another statute is going AWOL meaning that someone can be arrested if they have gone absent without leave from somewhere such as the navy, army or RAF.
Finally is public order offences. This is similar to breach of peace, however, this is when an arrest can take place due to a person breaching their terms and conditions, such as not being in their home at their time of curfew.