Police Powers

Police Powers

Background:

• A.5 of the European Convention on Human Rights protects freedom of the person
• This right is a qualified right meaning that it can be eroded at any time to prevent or detect crime
• Now part of our domestic law under the Human Rights Act 1998
• Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 was set up to prevent miscarriages of justice

Part 1- Stop and Search:

• S.1 of the Act gives the power to stop, search and detain a person or vehicle in a public place to uncover stolen or prohibited articles 
• Under S.2 the officer must give the suspect their name and station as well as stating the object of the search. In Osman v DPP(1999) the defendants conviction was quashed due to an unlawful stop and search because the officer did not comply with S.2. This was recently upheld in R v Bristol (2007)
• Under S.3 the officer must make a record of the search 
• Crucial to S.1 the officer must have REASONABLE SUSPICION that the suspect is carrying stolen or prohibited articles
• Code A provides guidance on what amounts to reasonable suspicion
• Must be based on fact and more than a hunch
• The Equality Act 2010 makes it unlawful for a PC to discriminate against 
• Cannot be based on previous convictions, skin colour, hairstyle etc
• Castorina v Chief Constable of Surrey (1988) would apply the 'reasonable man' test
• In the suspect refuses to cooperate, then reasonable force may be used during a stop and search. This will ONLY be lawful if the PC is acting within the law. If the…