The new Police powers of arrest, which make all offences, no matter how trivial, into arrestable offences, come into force on 1st January 2006 i.e. after midnight tonight.
These were brought into law without proper Parliamentary scrutiny in the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 Section 110 Powers of arrest
These new powers, which are regulated under the new statutory Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) Code of Practice G (.pdf) also affect the Section 136 power of arrest which has been used so far to arrest the peaceful demonstrators within the Designated Area around Parliament Square:
136 Offences under sections 132 to 135: penalties[...]
(5) A constable in uniform may arrest without warrant anyone he reasonably believes is committing an offence mentioned in subsections (1) to (4).
This subsection ceases to have effect on the coming into force of section 110.
This change affects the as yet unused Section 137 Loudspeakers in designated area which has been up till now, only an offence punishable by a fine:
4) A person who operates or permits the operation of a loudspeaker in contravention of subsection (1) is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to- (a) a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, together with(b) a further fine not exceeding £50 for each day on which the offence continues after the conviction.
This use of a Loudspeaker offence will become an arrestable offence as of midnight.
Therefore it is worth checking that any arrests or threats of arrest under Sections 132 to 138 comply with the new PACE Code G.
Specifically, anyone arrested should be told the reason that they are being arrested, which will most likely be the "catch all"
Section 110 (5) (e):
"(e) to allow the prompt and effective investigation of the offence or of the conduct of the person in question;
Any arrest made after midnight tonight without citing such Section 110 / PACE Section 24 "reasons" e.g. only quoting Section 132 directly, will probably be thrown out in court.
Given the lack of training which the Police have received generally about Section 110 ,such errors are quite likely.
Remember that being arrested nowadays involves you being photographed (after haveing been forced to remove any clothing which may obscure your face), being fingerprinted (all ten digits and both palms, if you possess them), having non-intimate tissue samples e.g. mouth swabs taken for DNA analysis, and records on vvarious Police and Intelligence computer databases, all of which dtata gets retained indefinately, even if you are never charged with an offence, and even if you are found not guilty in court.
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