Police Powers Flashcards
What is arrest?
Arrest is the process in which a person charged with an offence is physically restrained and and brought before a court to face charges.
What are police powers in relation to the seizure of property?
The police are legally entitled to take any item, including clothing, which they reasonably believe to have been used in the commission of an offence.
Arrest with a warrant:
Is issued when a justice is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for issuing it. For example, when police officers have reasonable suspicion that an individual has committed an offence.
Summons is a…
Written document ordering the person named in it, to appear before a certain court at a particular date and time, to hear the charges being brought against them.
Right to silence…
There is a general principle that both before and after an arrest, the individual in question has no legal obligation to answer the police’s questions. This principle is known as the ‘right to silence’. The police are required to remind the suspect that they gave the right to silence and that anything they say can be used as evidence.
Investigative arrest…
An officer is legally entitled to make an arrest of a person whom they reasonably suspect has committed an indictable offence, for questioning regarding said offence.
The arrested person must be brought…
Before a justice as soon as is reasonably practicable
To make a lawful arrest the officer must…
Use clear words like “i arrest you”, to make it clear to the person that they are being arrested.
Search warrant…
Is an official document which is issued and directed to a specific officer/s, to arrest the person named in the document and bring them before a court to face the charges laid against them.
Arrest without warrant…
The main requirement for an arrest made without a warrant is that the police have ‘reasonable grounds for suspecting that a person has/is committing/committed an offence’.
The police’s powers regarding identification are…
Under the Police powers and… Act 2000, a police officer is entitled to require an individual to identify themselves. In particular, in a situation where a person is reasonably suspected of having committed an indictable offence.
The police can search a persons property provided that they have…
Reasonable grounds for suspecting that relevant evidence for an offence can be found a particular place.
Search a person -
Searches of a person in public are limited to outer garments only. However if there is need for a more intimate search, it must be conducted in private either by a police officer who is of the same sex as the person being searched, or by a legally qualified medical practitioner under the direction of an officer.
Rbt police powers…
There are no grounds needed for a police officer to conduct a roadside breath test, provided that the test is conducted in good faith, it will be lawful.
The police are given special investigative powers, which are…
A balancing act between individual freedoms, such as citizens right to privacy and fair treatment, and the society’s need to be safe and protected from crime.
