A reappraisal of police powers

Abstract

In Chapter I, the major coercive power granted by law to the police shall be dealt with, namely, "Arrest", together with such powers as are intimately related and incidental to it. The instances under the law in which the police may exercise the power of arrest, the amount of force which the police may use to effect an arrest, and the question as to what powers do the police have to search a person upon arrest, are examined. Moreover, one shall consider what controls exist and may be further needed to prevent the arbitrary use of such powers of arrest. Chapter II deals with the problem relating to the length of time for which the police may detain a suspect upon arrest without charging or releasing him. Incidental to this problem is the question of re-arrest; and the nature of such safeguards as are necessary to ensure that continued detention upon arrest, even though within the statutory limit, is not arbitrary. Closely related to the previous chapter is the subject dealt within Chapter III which examines certain fundamental concepts relating to the questioning of the suspect by the police. This chapter indeed examines whether the suspect's "right of silence" needs amendment; the caution to be given by the police to the suspect informing him of such right; the evidentiary rules concerning the admissibility or otherwise in evidence, of a statement made by the suspect to the police and the question as to how police conduct can effect its admissibility; a proposal to tape record all police interrogations is moreover 1- e x am in ed in detail. This chapter also considers the treatment to be afforded by the police to a suspect detained by them, in the light of recent decisions of the European Court of Human Rights. Chapter IV and Chapter V consider the need of updating our laws on police powers in relation to technological and scientific advances in the means available for the investigation of offences. To this effect Chapter IV, which deals with the Identification of Offenders, examines the present rules relating to the taking of fingerprints, the procedure governing identification parades, the taking of certain body samples for forensic examination, together with the problems which any amendments may create in relation to the individual's right over his own person and whether the privilege against self incrimination extends to a right for the suspect to refuse to provide evidence against himself through scientific tests. Chapter V on the other hand deals with recent developments in modern surveillance methods; the question as to what powers the police have to effect surveillance over a suspect; the intrusions of such measures on the individual's right to privacy in the light of decisions of the European Court of Human Rights; and the safeguards which are necessary in a democratic society to prevent such measures from abuse if they are to be effected and allowed. Chapter VI in conclusion considers that power which is essential for the police if they are to investigate offences properly and effect their duty of collecting evidence so as to be in a position to charge the alleged offender, namely, the power relating to "Entry, Search and Seizure"; together with such controls and changes in our law as are needed if one is to prevent the possibility of such powers becoming a means of oppression and harassment, rather then a means of proper investigation.