ABSTRACT
This area concerns the balance struck by the law between the powers conferred on the police and the maintenance of individual freedom and of due process.
Examiners often set problem questions in this area, as the detailed rules of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (hereafter PACE) and the Codes of Practice made under it lend themselves to such a format. The questions usually concern a number of stages from first contact between police and suspect in the street up to the charge. This allows consideration of the rules governing stop and search, arrest, searching of premises, seizure of articles, detention, treatment in the police station and interviewing. (It must be borne in mind that interviews do not invariably take place in the police station; an important area in the question may concern an interview of the suspect which takes place in the street or in the police car.) You need to be aware of ss 34-37 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 which curtail the right to silence and therefore affect police interviewing. You should also be aware of the extension of police powers in the public order context, contained in Part V of the 1994 Act. The common law power to arrest to prevent a breach of the peace is still extensively used and may need to be considered.
