The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) is a Parliamentary Act due to which a legal structure is created for the authorities of the England and Wales’s police officers to fight against crime. This Act has also provided a code of conduct for exercising those powers. Basically, in compliance with the commendations of the Royal Commission on Criminal Procedure, this Act was released. The objective of the said Act is to combine police forces into a common code of practice and to reconcile the person’s right carefully with the police forces. There are codes of conduct following the Act to explain the scope of policemen’s powers further. Sections 60 and 66 of the Act mentioned above provide for a Code of Practice for the exercise of different powers by the Secretary of State. In contrast, Practice Code C and H deal with arrest, treatment and questioning of people by police officers concerning terrorism and non-terrorism enquiry (Ozin and Norton 2019).

It provides a complete set of regulations governing the person’s arrest by a police officer, to ensure that legal authorities have not illogically arrested persons. Indictable offences are detained in compliance with sections 24 and 25 of the PACE; including offences defined in law such as culpable homicide or murder; offences carrying a minimum of 5 years sentence, such as burglary, offensive assault and some statutory offences mentioned in 24(2). These are the greatest crimes and are intended for protecting people in society. A police officer can arrest an individual who is suspected of a felony or is about to commit an arresting offence, provided the presumption has fairgrounds.

Apart from preventing crimes, this Act also helps in protecting and maintaining the law and justice of society because at the time of arresting a person the police officer needs to notify that person of the reasons for him/her arrest (PACE 28). The person must also be warned that an individual has the right to remain quiet, but quietness may be interpreted as guilt, and all that is said must be written and used in court. This Act authentically and expeditiously investigates any criminal matter to maintain the law and justice (Sutton 2016).

It cannot be ignored that to maintain the law and justice of the UK, the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 plays an active role. It is necessary to use the power to stop and investigate equally and appropriately. The police need to search every person without discrimination.

Reference

Ozin, P. and Norton, H., 2019. PACE: A practical guide to the police and criminal evidence act 1984. Oxford University Press.

Sutton, V., 2016. UNFAIRLY OBTAINED EVIDENCE: EXPLORING THE BALANCE BETWEEN DEFENDANTS’RIGHTS AND THE INTERESTS OF JUSTICE. Diffusion-The UCLan Journal of Undergraduate Research, 8(2).

The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984

The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005