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The Police And Criminal Evidence Act

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In this essay I will be describing some key legislation that has been put in place to protect citizens’ rights within society.

Legal Rights
The Police and Criminal Evidence Act (1984)
The Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) lays out the rights of suspects and the powers of the police. The act is split up into 8 sections, together the act covers: stop and search, arrest, detention, investigation, identification and interviewing detainees.
The fist section is code A; this states a police officer’s powers to search a person or vehicle before making an arrest, stating where and how this should be completed. If the police suspects that someone has committed a crime they are …show more content…

The length of time in which a suspect is detained should be kept to a minimum, meaning the search should be carried out quickly, also whilst trying to minimise embarrassment. An officer should treat the person being searched, with respect, using their powers fairly and not showing discrimination.
The next section is code B; this covers the power to search premises, seize and retain items found on premises and people. An officer might have a search warrant, issued by a justice of the peace, granting powers of entry, search and seizure; this could be to search for stolen property, evidence of serious crimes, drugs and weapons. The police also have the powers to search a property without a warrant in order to make an arrest or after an arrest. However entry, search and seizure should be justified before being carried out as the Human Rights Act 1998 state the right to privacy and respect for personal property and there might be another way to meet the objectives of the search which aren’t as intrusive. The Powers to search and seize must be used respectfully, fairly and without unlawful discrimination. This code links with code A, as if a person isn’t arrested but is searched whilst conducting the search of the property, it must be carried out following code A.
The

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