Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984
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The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) (1984 c. 60) is an Act of Parliament which instituted a legislative framework for the powers of police officers in England and Wales to combat crime, as well as providing codes of practice for the exercise of those powers. The aim of the PACE Act has always been to establish a balance between the powers of the British police and the rights of members of the public. Equivalent provision is made for Northern Ireland by the Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 (SI 1989/1341).
Criminal liability may arise if the specific terms of the act itself are not conformed to, whereas failure to conform to the codes of practice while searching, arresting, detaining or interviewing a suspect, evidence obtained during the process may be found to be inadmissible in court.
PACE was significantly modified by the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005. This replaced nearly all existing powers of arrest, including the category of arrestable offences, with a new general power of arrest for all offences.
Any person with a duty of enforcement is also required to follow the provisions of the PACE codes as far as practical and relevant. These includes store detectives, Council Officers and Customs Officials.
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[edit] PACE Codes of Practice
The Home Office and the Cabinet Office announced a joint review of PACE and its codes of practice in May 2002, and on 31 July 2004, new PACE Codes of Practice came into effect.
- PACE Code A: deals with the exercise by police officers of statutory powers to search a person or a vehicle without first making an arrest. It also deals with the need for a police officer to make a record of such a stop or encounter.
- PACE Code B: deals with police powers to search premises and to seize and retain property found on premises and persons.
- PACE Code C: sets out the requirements for the detention, treatment and questioning of people in police custody by police officers.
- PACE Code D: concerns the main methods used by the police to identify people in connection with the investigation of offences and the keeping of accurate and reliable criminal records.
- PACE Code E: deals with the tape recording of interviews with suspects in the police station.
- PACE Code F: deals with the visual recording with sound of interviews with suspects.
On 1 January 2006 an additional code came into force.
- PACE Code G: deals with statutory powers of arrest.
On 24 July 2006 a further code came into force.
- PACE Code H: deals with the detention of terrorism suspects.
[edit] Case law
Since the passage of PACE, the courts have recognised the greater safeguards of civil liberties granted by the act. In Osman v DPP (1999), the search of Osman was held to be unlawful because the officers searching him did not give their names and station, contrary to PACE's requirements.[1] In O'Loughlin v Chief Constable of Essex (1998), the courts held that the entry of a premises to arrest O'Loughlin's wife for criminal damage was unlawful because under PACE, anyone present on the premises must be given the reason for entry.[2] However, not all cases have gone against the police; in R v Longman (1988), it was held that the police entry of a premises to execute a search warrant for drugs was lawful, although deception had been utilised to gain entry, and upon entering, the police had not identified themselves or showed the warrant.[3]
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Martin, Jacqueline (2005). The English Legal System (4th ed.), p. 129. London: Hodder Arnold. ISBN 0-340-89991-3.
- ^ Martin, p. 133.
- ^ Martin, p. 132.
