Arrestable Offences

sdanseo

Bit of confusion from my layperson's viewpoint here.

According to the statute;

Criminal Law Act 1997 as amended by the Criminal Justice Act, 2006 (amendment underlined) wrote:

"arrestable offence" means an offence for which a person of full capacity and not previously convicted may, under or by virtue of any enactment or the common law, be punished by imprisonment for a term of five years or by a more severe penalty and includes an attempt to commit any such offence;

Can someone clarify that this means that though the average sentence at the time may be a suspended one, or a very short one or even non-custodial (say for assault); the offence is deemed as arrestable ONLY because the person could, hypothetically, serve a term of 5 years or more?

Also, in practice there must surely be cause for arrest in an instance where the offence being committed is not one that carries a 5-year sentence, such as drink-driving:

Road Traffic Act, 2006 wrote:

(6) A person who—

(a) refuses or fails to comply immediately with a requirement under subsection (4) (a) or (b) (i) or such a requirement in a manner indicated by a member of the Garda Síochána under subsection (5) , or

(b) without reasonable excuse, refuses or fails to comply immediately with a requirement under subsection (4) (b) (ii) or such a requirement in a manner indicated by a member of the Garda Síochána under subsection (5) ,

is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both.

or where someone is drunk, disorderly and may pose a threat to someone:

Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act, 1994 wrote:

6.—(1) It shall be an offence for any person in a public place to use or engage in any threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to provoke a breach of the peace or being reckless as to whether a breach of the peace may be occasioned.
[GA]
(2) A person who is guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £500 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or to both.

Where is the legal basis for such an arrest?

TheNog

sdonn_1 wrote: »

Can someone clarify that this means that though the average sentence at the time may be a suspended one, or a very short one or even non-custodial (say for assault); the offence is deemed as arrestable ONLY because the person could, hypothetically, serve a term of 5 years or more?

A guard or a civilian can arrest a person for an arrestable offence only if the offence carries a sentence of 5 years or more. The allowable sentence of each offence is outlined in the statute book but if a person prosecuted, it is up to the judge to determine the actual conviction details.

Section 2 Assault does not come under an arrestable offence.

sdonn_1 wrote: »

Also, in practice there must surely be cause for arrest in an instance where the offence being committed is not one that carries a 5-year sentence, such as drink-driving:



or where someone is drunk, disorderly and may pose a threat to someone:



Where is the legal basis for such an arrest?

Drink driving and public order have powers of arrest contained within their own acts. For drink driving it is Section 49(8) and for public order it is Section 24.

Hope that helps

sdanseo

TheNog wrote: »

Public order have powers of arrest contained within their own acts. For drink driving it is Section 49(8) and for public order it is Section 24.

Hope that helps

Ah right, so the arrestability (for want of a better word) of an offence doesn't have to go back to the definition of arrestable offence once the Act defines a seperate scenario. With hindsight that's along the lines of how I should have phrased my question.

Cheers Nog.

TheNog

sdonn_1 wrote: »

Ah right, so the arrestability (for want of a better word) of an offence doesn't have to go back to the definition of arrestable offence once the Act defines a seperate scenario.

Thats it in a nutshell

sdonn_1 wrote: »

With hindsight that's along the lines of how I should have phrased my question.

Aye I had to re-read it a couple of times!! :pac:

McCrack

The offences of drunk driving and Public Order you described are not arrestable offences meaning that they dont qualify under the Criminal Law Act 1997 which basically means the only people who can arrest another person for these type of offences are members of the Gardai.

Arrestable offences as you have pointed out are only those which carry the prospect of imprisonment for 5 years or more. These type of offences ANY person can arrest another but if the person making the arrest isnt a member of An Garda they must hand the arrested person over to a member of An Garda as soon as practicable.