Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016

Arrest without warrant

1 Power of a constable

(1) A constable may arrest a person without a warrant if the constable has reasonable grounds for suspecting that the person has committed or is committing an offence.

(2) In relation to an offence not punishable by imprisonment, a constable may arrest a person under subsection (1) only if the constable is satisfied that it would not be in the interests of justice to delay the arrest in order to seek a warrant for the person’s arrest.

(3) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (2), it would not be in the interests of justice to delay an arrest in order to seek a warrant if the constable reasonably believes that unless the person is arrested without delay the person will—

(a) continue committing the offence, or

(b) obstruct the course of justice in any way, including by—

(i) seeking to avoid arrest, or

(ii) interfering with witnesses or evidence.

(4) For the avoidance of doubt, an offence is to be regarded as not punishable by imprisonment for the purpose of subsection (2) only if no person convicted of the offence can be sentenced to imprisonment in respect of it.

2 Exercise of the power

(1) A person may be arrested under section 1 more than once in respect of the same offence.

(2) A person may not be arrested under section 1 in respect of an offence if the person has been officially accused of committing the offence or an offence arising from the same circumstances as the offence.

(3) Where—

(a) a constable who is not in uniform arrests a person under section 1, and

(b) the person asks to see the constable’s identification,

the constable must show identification to the person as soon as reasonably practicable.