Arrest - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition arrest

Definition :

Arrest [fr. restae, Lat.; arrestare, It.; arrester, Fr., to bring one to stand], the restraining of the liberty of a man's person in order to compel obedience to the order of a Court of Justice, or to prevent the commission of a crime, or to ensure that a person charged or suspected of a crime may be forthcoming to answer it. Arrests are either in civil or (see APPREHENSION) criminal cases; civil arrests must be affected, in order to be legal, by virtue of a precept or writ issue out of some Court. The law of civil arrest (see MESNE PROCESS), so far as it still exists, is regulated by the Debtors Act, 1869 (see that title),which abolished imprisonment for debt except in special cases, as where a debtor has the means to pay his debt but refuses to do so, and s. 218 of the Companies Act, 1929, as to the power to arrest an absconding contributory in case of winding up by the Court. see also CONTEMPT OF COURT. The two great statues for securing the liberty of the subject against unlawful arrests and suits are Magna Charta and the Habeas Corpus Act (31 Car. 2, c. 2), which is amended and enforced by 56 Geo. 3, c. 100. A person is privileged from civil arrest whilst in or whilst going to or from a Court of Law on business.

Power of Arrest under Criminal Process--apart from arrest under a warrant from a magistrate-are as follows:-

1. At Common Law.--A peace officer, i.e., a sheriff, coroner, constable, or any justice of the peace, may arrest for felony, attempted felony, or on reasonable suspicion of felony, or for breach of the peace committed in his presence, or on reasonable belief that an affray is about to be renewed. A private person is not only able but bound to arrest any one who commits a felony in his presence or dangerously wounds another. He may arrest anyone taking part in any affray while it is continuing or, if he reasonably apprehends, its renewal. He may arrest for felony provided a felony has been committed and he has reasonable grounds for believing that the man arrested has committed that felony.

2. By Statute.--Any person found committing an offence under the (English) Larceny Act, 1916 (except against s. 31), or against the (English) Malicious Damage Act, 1861, may be arrested without a warrant. There is a similar provision in respect of s. 6 of the (English) Vagrancy Act, 1824, and also with regard to a constable in respect of certain minor offences on the highway [s. 78, (English) Highways Act; s. 28, (English) Town Police Clauses Act; s. 74(2), (English) Public Health Act, 1925 (Geo. 5, c. 71)]. For further statutes and for arrest generally see Archbold's Criminal Pleading, Evidence and Practice. The (English) Criminal Law Act, 1826, ss. 28 and 30, and the (English) Criminal Justice Administration Act, 1861, s. 8, provide compensation to persons apprehending certain offenders in certain cases.

'Arrest' is a part of the process of investigation intended to secure several purposes, Adri Dharam Das v. State of West Bengal, (2005) 4 SCC 303.

Arrest, means to seize or take into custody by authority of law, Webster Law Dictionary, p. 82.

Arrest is when one is taken and restrained from his liberty, Stroud's Dictionary of Law, Vol. 1, p. 175.

Freedom from arrest in cases of civil actions is enjoyed by members of Legislature. This privilege is enjoyed by a member of the House of Commons for forty days after every prorogation, and forty days before the next appointed meeting of the House. A member of House of Commons is entitled to this privilege even before taking oath. Peers are privileged from arrest in civil cases at all times, Parliamentary Practice by Erskine May, 22nd Edn., 2001, p. 106.

However, it does not confer immunity from arrest on any criminal charged, The Office of the Speaker in the Parliaments of Commonwealth - Wilding and Laudy, p. 599.

In India, a person arrested shall be, informed of the grounds of arrest as soon as possible and shall not be denied the right to be defended by a legal practitioner of his choice; similarly, he shall be produced before the nearest Magistrate within a period of twenty-four hours of such arrest. [Constitution of India, Articles 22(1) and (2)]

Arrest, mere questioning by police under suspicion is not an arrest, State of Rajasthan v. Daulat Ram, (2005) 7 SCC 36.