The power of arrest is a mandate given by a central authority that allows an individual to remove a criminal's (or suspected criminal's) liberty. The power of arrest can also be used to protect a person, or persons from harm or to protect damage to property. However, in many countries, a person also has powers of arrest under

citizen's arrest A citizen's arrest is an arrest made by a private citizen – that is, a person who is not acting as a sworn law-enforcement official. In common law jurisdictions, the practice dates back to medieval England and the English common law, in which ...

or any person arrest /

breach of the peace Breach of the peace, or disturbing the peace, is a legal term used in constitutional law in English-speaking countries and in a public order sense in the several jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It is a form of disorderly conduct. Public ord ...

arrest powers.

Individuals with powers of arrest

Originally, powers of arrest were confined to sheriffs in England for a local area. Over the past few hundred years, the legal power of arrest has gradually expanded to include a large number of people/officials, the majority of which have come to the fore more recently. These various individuals all may utilise similar or different powers of arrest, but generally adhere to one particular field. The individuals below have been listed in order of when the power of arrest became available to the individual, starting from the earliest.

United Kingdom

England & Wales

The following individuals all have various powers of arrest or detention within England & Wales in various capacities using the following legislation/law: Police

Constables A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

Common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omniprese ...

- to prevent a

Breach of the Peace Breach of the peace, or disturbing the peace, is a legal term used in constitutional law in English-speaking countries and in a public order sense in the several jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It is a form of disorderly conduct. Public ord ...

*Section 49 of the Prison Act 1952 *Section 32 Children & Young Persons Act 1969 *

Immigration Act 1971 The Immigration Act 1971c 77 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning immigration and nearly entirely remaking the field of British immigration law. The Act, as with the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962, and that of 1968, res ...

*Section 7 of the Bail Act 1976 *Section 1 & Section 13 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 (warrants) *Section 136 of the

Mental Health Act 1983 The Mental Health Act 1983 (c.20) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It covers the reception, care and treatment of mentally disordered people, the management of their property and other related matters, forming part of the men ...

*Section 24

Police Criminal Evidence Act 1984 The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) (1984 c. 60) is an Act of Parliament which instituted a legislative framework for the powers of police officers in England and Wales to combat crime, and provided codes of practice for the exercise ...

*Section 46A

*Section 31

*Section 6D of the

Road Traffic Act 1988 The Road Traffic Act 1988 (c. 52) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, concerning licensing of vehicles, insurance and road regulation. Contents Part I contains a number of traffic offences including causing death by dangerous driv ...

*Section 41 of the

Terrorism Act 2000 The Terrorism Act 2000 (c.11) is the first of a number of general Terrorism Acts passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It superseded and repealed the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1989 and the Northern Ireland (Em ...

*Section 9 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014

National Crime Agency The National Crime Agency (NCA) is a national law enforcement agency in the United Kingdom. It is the UK's lead agency against organised crime; human, weapon and drug trafficking; cybercrime; and economic crime that goes across regional and in ...

(formerly SOCA) officer (N.B. can possess powers of

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, ...

, customs and excise and

Police constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other pe ...

simultaneously) *s46

Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 The Serious Organized Crime and Police Act 2005 (c.15) (often abbreviated to SOCPA or SOCAP) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom aimed primarily at creating the Serious Organised Crime Agency. It also significantly extended and si ...

Police Community Support Officers ( PCSOs) *

- to prevent a

*s24A

*Power to detain under Police Reform Act 2002 Members of public ( "Other persons" i.e. anyone who is not a constable) *

- to prevent a

*s.24A

Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) (1984 c. 60) is an Act of Parliament which instituted a legislative framework for the powers of police officers in England and Wales to combat crime, and provided codes of practice for the exercise ...

- for criminal offences not limited to

summary trial Summary, in law, forms many compounds as an adjective meaning "short, concise": *Summary abatement, the abatement of a nuisance without judicial proceeding, even without notice or hearing, often by a destruction of the offending thing or structure. ...

alone

Immigration Officer An immigration officer is a law enforcement official whose job is to ensure that immigration legislation is enforced. This can cover the rules of entry for visa applicants, foreign nationals or those seeking asylum at the border, detecting an ...

(formerly

UK Border Agency The UK Border Agency (UKBA) was the border control agency of the Government of the United Kingdom and part of the Home Office that was superseded by UK Visas and Immigration, Border Force and Immigration Enforcement in April 2013. It was f ...

) *s28a

*schedule 2, paragraph 17(1)

*s23

UK Borders Act 2007 The UK Borders Act 2007 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom about immigration and asylum. Amongst other things, it introduced compulsory biometric residence permits for non-EU immigrants and introduced greater powers for immigratio ...

HMRC , patch = , patchcaption = , logo = HM Revenue & Customs.svg , logocaption = , badge = , badgecaption = , flag = , flagcaption = , image_size = , co ...

Criminal Investigation Officers

Service Police (RMP/RAFP/RNP) Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear reco ...

*s67/69

Armed Forces Act 2006 The Armed Forces Act 2006 (c 52) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It came into force on 31 October 2006. It replaces the three separate Service Discipline Acts (the Army Act 1955, the Air Force Act 1955 and the Naval Discip ...

Prison officer A prison officer or corrections officer is a uniformed law enforcement official responsible for the custody, supervision, safety, and regulation of prisoners. They are responsible for the care, custody, and control of individuals who have been ...

Church Warden A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish or congregation of the Anglican Communion or Catholic Church, usually working as a part-time volunteer. In the Anglican tradition, holders of these positions are ''ex officio'' members of the parish b ...

*s3 Ecclesiastical Courts Jurisdiction Act 1860 HMP Prison Officer Court bailiff

Court officer A bailiff (from Middle English baillif, Old French ''baillis'', ''bail'' "custody") is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. Bailiffs are of various kinds and their offi ...

Court security officer *s53

Courts Act 2003 The Courts Act 2003 (c.39) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom implementing many of the recommendations in Sir Robin Auld's (a Court of Appeal judgeReview of the Criminal Courtsin England and Wales (also known as the "Auld Review" ...

(power to restrain and remove)

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

(

Sheriffs Act 1887 The Sheriffs Act 1887 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It sets out the appointments and qualifications of sheriffs in England and Wales. The Act gives sheriffs the right to arrest those resisting a warrant (''posse comitat ...

) Serjeant at Arms of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

"Officer or agent" *s156 Companies Clauses Consolidation Act 1845 *Part 4 - Chapter 19 - Rule 4.2111

Insolvency Rules 1986 The Insolvency Rules 1986 (SI 1986/1925) was a set of rules contained in a statutory instrument which set out details of procedure for UK insolvency law United Kingdom insolvency law regulates companies in the United Kingdom which are unable ...

Epping Forest Keepers The Epping Forest Keepers are an ancient and historic body of people who are employed by the City of London, who in return are responsible, on behalf of the Conservators, for the management and care of Epping Forest, which covers approximately ten ...

(park rangers)

Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and en ...

officer Water bailiff

IPCC The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations. Its job is to advance scientific knowledge about climate change caused by human activities. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) ...

investigators * Police Reform Act 2002

United States

In the United States, various

law enforcement officer A law enforcement officer (LEO), or peace officer in North American English, is a public-sector employee whose duties primarily involve the enforcement of laws. The phrase can include campaign disclosure specialists, local police officers, pr ...

s are able to legally arrest people. Due to the complexity of the American civil legal system, including the interactions between federal, state, county, and local

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. J ...

s, there are numerous special cases that apply, depending on the reason for the arrest.

Individuals with powers of arrest

United Kingdom

England & Wales

United States

References

See also