D
Dave The Dude
Guest
Published: 4/04/2010 at 12:00 AM
Bangkok Post: Newspaper section: Spectrum
This week we'll start to discuss arrests without warrants. Until now, we've been talking about arrests that arise from warrants issued.
As we've already mentioned, an arrest warrant is a document signed by a judge that gives a police officer the right to arrest someone. If the police officer arrests that person, he or she can't claim wrongful arrest, which we will cover later.
But what if a police officer doesn't have a warrant? Can he or she arrest someone?
This, of course, depends on the circumstances. In general, an officer can arrest a suspect when the suspect has committed a "flagrant" offence. This is when the police officer sees the suspect commit the crime or comes upon the scene and the suspect has obviously just committed it.
Here's an example of flagrant commission that contains a little of the uncertainty of real life legal issues. The police officer comes upon a screaming, hysterical crowd, pushes to the centre of it and finds a man holding everyone at bay with a knife and someone lying stabbed on the ground. Someone in the crowd tells the officer that the man with the knife was fighting with the victim and stabbed the victim.
Even though he or she didn't see the crime committed, the police officer is justified in arresting the person with the knife for stabbing the victim.
But you can see the problem - the person in the crowd who told the officer the man with the knife had done the stabbing could have been against the person with the knife for some reason and lied. The police are, in these situations, forced to use their best judgment - but sometimes they are wrong. It's tough being a police officer.
Here's another example that demonstrates a situation in which an officer can properly arrest someone without a warrant, and without having witnessed the crime. Let's say a policeman is walking down the street. Mr X is running toward him. Behind Mr X is Mr Y, shouting "Stop, thief!"
The policeman is justified in arresting Mr X because Mr X is being pursued by others who are calling out that he has committed a crime.
This is another of the well known circumstances under which a warrant is not needed.
Let's look at an example that illustrates the other side of the coin, however. In the example above, let's change it so that Mr X is simply running down the street, but not being pursued by anybody. The police officer has seen Mr X around, doesn't like him, and just decides to arrest him. This wouldn't fall under any of the categories in which an officer can arrest someone without a warrant.
What if Mr X is arrested under these circumstances? In such a case, he can apply to a court to release him. The police officer may, moreover, be guilty of a crime or possibly be sued by the arrestee.
We'll discuss remedies that an arrestee has later.
Next time we'll continue our discussion of circumstances under which the police can arrest without a warrant.
James Finch of Chavalit Finch and Partners
(finch@chavalitfinchlaw.com) and
Nilobon Tangprasit of Siam City Law Offices Ltd
(nilobon@siamcitylaw.com).
Researcher: Chanakarn Boonyasith.
For more information visit
http://www.chavalitfinchlaw.com.
Comments? Questions?
Contact us at the email addresses above.
Bangkok Post: Newspaper section: Spectrum
This week we'll start to discuss arrests without warrants. Until now, we've been talking about arrests that arise from warrants issued.
As we've already mentioned, an arrest warrant is a document signed by a judge that gives a police officer the right to arrest someone. If the police officer arrests that person, he or she can't claim wrongful arrest, which we will cover later.
But what if a police officer doesn't have a warrant? Can he or she arrest someone?
This, of course, depends on the circumstances. In general, an officer can arrest a suspect when the suspect has committed a "flagrant" offence. This is when the police officer sees the suspect commit the crime or comes upon the scene and the suspect has obviously just committed it.
Here's an example of flagrant commission that contains a little of the uncertainty of real life legal issues. The police officer comes upon a screaming, hysterical crowd, pushes to the centre of it and finds a man holding everyone at bay with a knife and someone lying stabbed on the ground. Someone in the crowd tells the officer that the man with the knife was fighting with the victim and stabbed the victim.
Even though he or she didn't see the crime committed, the police officer is justified in arresting the person with the knife for stabbing the victim.
But you can see the problem - the person in the crowd who told the officer the man with the knife had done the stabbing could have been against the person with the knife for some reason and lied. The police are, in these situations, forced to use their best judgment - but sometimes they are wrong. It's tough being a police officer.
Here's another example that demonstrates a situation in which an officer can properly arrest someone without a warrant, and without having witnessed the crime. Let's say a policeman is walking down the street. Mr X is running toward him. Behind Mr X is Mr Y, shouting "Stop, thief!"
The policeman is justified in arresting Mr X because Mr X is being pursued by others who are calling out that he has committed a crime.
This is another of the well known circumstances under which a warrant is not needed.
Let's look at an example that illustrates the other side of the coin, however. In the example above, let's change it so that Mr X is simply running down the street, but not being pursued by anybody. The police officer has seen Mr X around, doesn't like him, and just decides to arrest him. This wouldn't fall under any of the categories in which an officer can arrest someone without a warrant.
What if Mr X is arrested under these circumstances? In such a case, he can apply to a court to release him. The police officer may, moreover, be guilty of a crime or possibly be sued by the arrestee.
We'll discuss remedies that an arrestee has later.
Next time we'll continue our discussion of circumstances under which the police can arrest without a warrant.
James Finch of Chavalit Finch and Partners
(finch@chavalitfinchlaw.com) and
Nilobon Tangprasit of Siam City Law Offices Ltd
(nilobon@siamcitylaw.com).
Researcher: Chanakarn Boonyasith.
For more information visit
http://www.chavalitfinchlaw.com.
Comments? Questions?
Contact us at the email addresses above.