The stopping and detaining by lawful authority of a person suspected of a criminal offence; referred to as apprehension in Scotland. Arrests are carried out mainly by the police, but a citizen's arrest is possible in certain circumstances; anyone may lawfully arrest without a warrant someone who is committing an arrestable offence, or who is reasonably suspected of so doing. A person wrongly arrested may bring civil proceedings for false imprisonment. In English law a distinction is drawn between serious offences for which arrest may be made without a warrant (arrestable offences) and relatively minor offences for which a warrant is always required. Arrestable offences include those for which a person not previously convicted might be imprisoned for five years or more. Attempts to commit such crimes are included in the definition. In the USA, felony arrests may be made outside the home without a warrant if there is probable cause to believe the accused committed a felony; misdemeanour arrests may be made without a warrant only where the offence occurred in the arrestor's presence.
| Criminal procedure |
|---|
| Investigating and charging crimes |
| Criminal investigation |
| Arrest warrant · Search warrant |
| Probable cause · Knock and announce |
| Exigent circumstance |
| Search and seizure · Arrest |
| Right to silence · Miranda warning (U.S.) |
| Grand jury |
| Criminal prosecution |
| Statute of limitations · Nolle prosequi |
| Bill of attainder · Ex post facto law |
| Criminal jurisdiction · Extradition |
| Habeas corpus · Bail |
| Inquisitorial system · Adversarial system |
| Charges and pleas |
| Arraignment · Indictment |
| Plea · Peremptory plea |
| Nolo contendere (U.S.) · Plea bargain |
| Related areas of law |
| Criminal defenses |
| Criminal law · Evidence |
| Civil procedure |
| Portals: Law · Criminal justice |
An arrest is the action of the police, or person acting under the law, to take a person into custody so that they may be forthcoming to answer for the commission of a crime. In many legal systems, an arrest requires mere verbal information to persons that they are under arrest; the laying of hands or restraints upon the arrested person is usually not required to effect an arrest.
While an arrest will not necessarily lead to a state sanction such as imprisonment, the arrest itself may have serious ramifications, such as a loss of a job due to inability to pay bail, loss of public housing, and social stigma.
Legal cautions
The reading of the Miranda warning or similar "caution" to an arrestee advising him or her of rights is not legally required upon arrest. The person must also be told what crime they are being arrested for and why it is necessary to arrest them. The defence argued that the only power to arrest arose under s4(6) Road Traffic Act 1988, which provides, "any constable may arrest anyone he has reasonable cause to suspect of having committed the offence of ... The general rule flowing from Holgate-Mohammed v Duke (1984) AC 437 is that an arrest takes place when an individual is taken into custody, and words or actions restrain him from moving anywhere beyond the control of the person effecting the arrest.
"Whether a person has been arrested depends not on the legality of his arrest but on whether he has been deprived of his liberty to go where he pleases."Non-criminal arrests
If a legislature lacks a quorum, many jurisdictions allow the members present the power to order a call of the house, which orders the arrest of the members who are not present.
Ordinarily only human beings can be arrested, but recent and somewhat controversial changes to criminal codes have allowed for the arrest not only of the usual "contraband, evidence, fruits, and instrumentalities" of crime, but also of inanimate objects such as money, automobiles, houses, and other personal property under asset forfeiture.
User Comments Add a comment…