Section 25 PACE

The police also have power under section 25 of PACE, which allows the police to arrest for any offence where:

The suspect's name and address cannot be discovered.

There are reasonable grounds for believing that the name and address given by the suspect are false.

This power is necessary as, if it did not exist, defendants who committed non-arrestable offences could refuse to co-operate with the police and run off, leaving the police powerless to act.

Section 25 also provides powers of arrest where there are reasonable grounds for believing that arrest is necessary to prevent that person from:

• Causing physical injury to himself or any other person

• Suffering physical injury (e.g. by trying to jump from a bridge in a suicide attempt)

Causing loss of or damage to property

• Committing an offence against public decency

• Causing an unlawful obstruction of the highway

This section also allows the police to arrest if the arrest is reasonably believed to be necessary to protect a child, or other vulnerable person, from the person who is arrested. All these allow an arrest as a preventative measure.

Other statutory rights of arrest

The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 added an extra power of arrest to PACE. This is now in section 46A of PACE and gives the police the right to arrest without a warrant anyone who, having been released on police bail, fails to attend at the police station at the set time. The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 also gives police the right to arrest for a variety of new offences including collective and aggravated trespass, in connection with offences committed in preparing for or attending a 'rave', or intentional harassment.

Arrest for breach of the peace

As well as rights given to them by Acts of Parliament, the police still retain a common law right to arrest where there has been, or is likely to be, a breach of the peace. This applies even if the behaviour complained of was on private premises.

The Court of Appeal summarised the conditions that must apply for this common law power of arrest to be used. These were:

• there must be a sufficiently real and present threat to the peace;

• the threat must come from the person to be arrested;

• the conduct of that person must clearly interfere with the rights of others and its natural consequence must be 'not wholly unreasonable' violence from a third party;

• the conduct of the person to be arrested must be unreasonable.

Arrest with a warrant

The police may make an application to a magistrate for a warrant to arrest a named person. Such a warrant is issued under section 1 of the Magistrates' Court Act 1980 which requires written information, supported by evidence on oath showing that a person has committed (or is suspected of committing) an offence. A warrant for arrest will only be granted if the offence involved is punishable by imprisonment, so a warrant can never be granted for offences for which are only punishable by, for example, a fine.

Manner of arrest

Whenever the police make an arrest they— should at the time of, or as soon as practicable after, tell the person arrested that they are under arrest and the reason for it, even if it is perfectly obvious why they are being arrested. There is no set form of words to be used and, as is often portrayed in television dramas, it is sufficient if the arresting officer says something like 'you're nicked for theft'.

Where necessary both the police and private citizens making an arrest may use reasonable force. Section 117 of PACE covers any power of arrest under PACE, while the Criminal Justice Act 1967 s. 3 covers other arrests.

The right to search an arrested person

Where a person has been arrested the police have a right to search that person for anything which might be used to help an escape, or anything which might be evidence relating to an offence. If such a search takes place in public the police can only require the suspect to remove outer coat, jacket and gloves.