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The main duty of the police is to maintain law and order. As part of their duties, they detect crime and
apprehend criminal offenders. They also ensure safety of persons and property. To perform these
functions, they have wide powers of arrest with or without a warrant. They also have the power to use
reasonable means to maintain peace and this may include using tear gas, water cannons to control riots
Arrest
the arrest must actually section 3 Commented [K1]: In making an arrest a police officer or
any other person making the arrest, shall actually touch or
confine the body of the person to be arrested, unless
touch or confine the body there is a submission to the custody verbally or by conduct
of the person to be
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submit to the arrest by
word or action
arrested takes refuge in of Act 30 Commented [K2]: Section - 4 - Search of Place entered by
person sought to be Arrested
(1) If any person acting under a warrant of arrest, or any police
a house or any place, the officer having authority to arrest, has reason to believe that the
person to be arrested has entered into or is within any place, the
person residing in or being in charge of the place shall, on demand
under a warrant ought to (2) If entry to the place cannot be effected under subsection (1)-
may enter the place and search therein for the person to be arrested,
facilities to search and and, in order to effect entrance into that place, break open any outer
or inner door or window of any house or place, whether that of the
person to be arrested, or of any other person or otherwise effect
In order to gain entry Section 5 Commented [K3]: Any police officer or other person
authorised to make an arrest may break out of any house or place
in order to liberate himself or any other person who, having
or access the officer may lawfully entered for the purpose of making an arrest, is detained
therein.
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he produced the notice of
authorized to make an
liberate himself
A person arrested shall Section 6 Commented [K4]: he person arrested shall not be subjected to
more restraint than is necessary to prevent his escape.
The arrested person has Section 7 Asante v Republic [1972] 2 GLR 177: The complainant lodged a Commented [K5]: Section - 7 - Notification of Substance of
Warrant
Except when the person arrested is in the actual course of the
the right to be informed complaint that she had been assaulted by the appellant. An commission of a crime or is pursued immediately after escape from
lawful custody, the police officer or other person making the arrest
shall inform the person arrested of the cause of the arrest, and, if the
in the language he escort police constable was detailed to go with her to invite the
police officer or other person is acting under the authority of a
warrant, shall notify the substance thereof to the person to be
arrested, and, if so required, shall show him the warrant.
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understands of the appellant to the police station. The police constable showed his
reason of his arrest. identity card to the appellant and invited him to the police
not tell him why he was wanted at the station. Upon his refusal,
the police constable seized his ignition key thus preventing him
the police constable down and whilst the police constable was on
the ground, kicked him injuring him and damaging his trousers.
a police officer due to the fact that the arrested person was
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section 10 of Act 30 was a sufficient defence to a charge of
acts in contravention of the dictates of the law to entitle a (2) Whenever the person arrested can be legally admitted to bail and
bail is furnished, he shall not be searched unless there are reasonable
grounds for believing that he has about his person, any-
police or peace officer to interfere with that liberty by (a) stolen articles; or
exercising against him the powers with which the officer is (b) instrument of violence; or
(d) other articles which may furnish evidence against him in regard
(3) All searches shall be made with strict decency and whenever it is
necessary to cause a woman to be searched, the search shall be made
legal powers, otherwise he commits a trespass to the person of by another woman.
(4) The right to search an arrested person does not include the right
that individual to examine his private person.
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arrested and taken to
Arrested person must be Section 9 Commented [K7]: Section - 9 - Arrested persons to be taken
at once to Police Station
Any person who is arrested, whether with or without a warrant, shall
taken to the police be taken with all reasonable despatch to a police station, or other
place for the reception of arrested persons, and shall without delay
be informed of the charge against him. Any such person while in
station within a
custody still be given reasonable facilities for obtaining legal advice,
taking steps to furnish bail, and otherwise making arrangements for
his defence or release.
reasonable time
The police powers of arrest are of the widest. Arrests may be made with or without a warrant. The
police have no right to detain anyone against his will without making an arrest. When in the course
of their investigation it becomes necessary to detain a suspect and there is no consent for such
action forthcoming from the suspect, the police have to arrest him. A fortiori upon completion of
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their investigation if they decide to charge a person who is not to be produced before the court by
When the arrest is made with a warrant the whole exercise from its beginning is under judicial
control. 1The warrant is issued by ajudge or magistrate upon a compliant or charge on oath, and
upon arrest the person named in the warrant has to be brought without unnecessary delay before
the court. Provision is made for the grant of bail if there is an endorsement to that effect on the
warrant. With this kind of arrest, therefore, few problems are encountered. Problems, however
,arisein connection with arrests without warrant because there is in those the danger of a capricious
exercise f power.
Section 10 of Act 30 deals with the power of the police to arrest without a warrant.
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see generally sections 71-81 of Act 30
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(a) commits an offence in the presence of the police officer;
(d) possesses an implement adapted or intended for use to unlawfully enter a building, and does not
(2) A police officer may arrest without warrant a person whom the police officer suspects on
reasonable grounds
(b) of being a bout to commit an offence, in order to prevent the commission of the offence;
(c) of being about to commit an offence, where the police officer finds that person in any highway,
(d) of being a person for whom a warrant of arrest has been issued by a Court;
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(f) of having been concerned in an act committed outside the Republic which, if committed in the
Republic would have been punishable as an offence, and for which that person is, under an
Whether the person making the arrest is a police officer or not, and whether the arrest be with warrant
or not, the person arrested should not be subjected to more restraint than is necessary to prevent his
escape. –s6. The person making the arrest does so by actuallytouching or confining the body of the person
to be arrested, but even this is not necessary where there is a submission to custody by a word or action-
s3. Except where the person arrested is in the actual course of the commission of the crime or is pursued
immediately after escape from lawful custody, the person amking the arrest must inform him of the cause
Commented [K8]: Section - 12 - Arrest by Private person,
without Warrant
of arrest. If the arrest is under warrant its substance must be notified to him, and if so required, the (1) A private person may arrest without warrant any person who in
his presence commits-
person making the arrest must show the warrant to him-s7. If this is not done, the arrest is unlawful and (a) any offence involving the use of force or violence;
the person making the arrest lays himself open to an action for false imprisonment. (c) any offence in the nature of stealing or fraud;
A private person may also arrest without warrant under the following circumstances (e) any offence involving injury to property owned by, or in the
lawful care or custody of, that private person.
(2) A private person may arrest without warrant any person whom
A person who in his presence commits an offence involving the use of violence, he reasonably suspects of having committed any offence mentioned
in subsection (1) provided that an offence of that nature have been
committed.
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causes bodily harm to another person,
causes injury to public property or property belonging to the arrestor or under his lawful care, or
Where the private person reasonably suspects the commission o any of the offences supra, such
When a private person arrests without a warrant, he must immediately hand the suspect over to the police
or send him to the nearest police station if there is no police officer around.
The law which gives state attorneys powers of arrest is Law Officers Act, 1974, section 4.The said
section provides that : “An officer of the Attorney-General’s Department of or above the rank of State
Attorney shall be deemed to have the powers of arrest conferred on a police officer by section 10 of the
A magistrate has powers of arrest where the offence is committed in his jurisdiction-he may authorize
A private persons powers of arrest is restricted to where any of the offences listed has actually been
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committed.
Section Summary
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Article 14 Commented [K9]:
14.
(1) Every person shall be entitled to his personal liberty and no person
shall be deprived of his personal liberty except in the following cases and
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(b) in execution of an order of a court punishing him for contempt
of court; or
an order of a court; or
(e) for the purpose of the education or welfare of a person who has
(f) for the purpose of preventing the unlawful entry of that person
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into Ghana, or of effecting the expulsion, extradition or other
to another; or
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(a) for the purpose of bringing him before a court in execution of
an order of a court; or
(b) of clause (3) of this article is not tried within a reasonable time, then,
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ensure that he appears at a later date for trial or for proceedings
preliminary to trial.
for an offence, any period he has spent in lawful custody in respect of that
offence before the completion of his trial shall be taken into account in
(7) Where a person who has served the whole or a part of his sentence is
acquitted on a appeal by a court, other than the Supreme Court, the court
may certify tot he Supreme Court that the person acquitted be paid
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compensation; and the Supreme Court may, upon examination of all the
facts and the certificate of the court concerned, award such compensation
as it may think fit; or, where the acquittal is by the Supreme Court, it may
summary of Article 14
17
Article 15
subjected to -
punishment;
(b) any other condition that detracts or is likely to detract from his
(3) A person who has not been convicted of a criminal offence shall not be
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persons.
Summary of Above
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Powers of the individual to arrest
The appellant, the operations officer of the Bolgatanga branch of the people's militia, was arraigned
before a jury at the High Court, Bolgatanga on a charge of murder. The prosecution's case was
that on the eventful day, the internal controller of the Tono Irrigation Project, Navrongo was
assigned a Land Rover to travel to Accra on duty. With instructions to drive the said Land Rover
ahead to Navrongo and hand it over to the regular driver, the first prosecution witness took off
from Tono at about 5.30 am when visibility was poor, with eight passengers including the deceased,
Klakani, a student of Navrongo Secondary School. While the first prosecution witness was slowing
down at the Navrongo-Sandema main motor road from Tono Junction in order to negotiate the curve
towards Navrongo direction, there was a gunshot from which the deceased was hit in the stomach
by a bullet. The driver mistook the noise of the gunshot for a tyre burst and stopped only to find
the deceased wailing. The deceased died later in hospital. The defence was that the appellant was
one of a group of militiamen on operational duty to check illegal fuel deals at the site of the Tono
Irrigation Project. Indeed, unknown to the appellant the vehicle was carrying an authorised extra
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allocation of 45 gallons of petrol and some lubricants. The appellant who was armed with an AK 47
rifle was in command of [p.346] the operation which was approved by the District defense co-
ordinator, the Acting Regional Co-ordinator of the Defence Committee and the PNDC district
Secretary of Navrongo. While at their post they spotted the vehicle coming from the Tono
Irrigation Project Area. The appellant stood in the middle of the road, raised the rifle and stopped
the vehicle. The vehicle slowed down as it negotiated the curve but never stopped. The appellant
then aimed at the back right side tyre and fired five times in rapid succession. The appellant and
his militia colleague rushed to the vehicle but it started off and they abandoned the chase in order
(2) The authority of a private person to make an arrest was very limited. Under section 12 of the
Criminal Procedure Code, 1960 (Act 30), he might arrest any person who in his view had committed
a felony or misdemeanour or any offence involving the use of force or violence, or whom he
reasonably suspected of having committed a felony provided that the felony had been committed.
Owners of property were also given certain powers of arrest under section 13; and under sections
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17 and 18, a magistrate in the circumstances provided, might direct a private person to arrest. In
the instant case, at the time the appellant shot at the vehicle, no felony had been committed to
ground any suspicion. In fact, no crime was being committed which necessitated its prevention. It
was true that unknown to the appellant the vehicle was carrying an extra allocation of 45 gallons of
petrol and some lubricants but that was not without authority. It was therefore clear that the trial
judge was right in directing the jury that the appellant could not avail himself of the defence of
justification under sections 30 and 31 of the Criminal Code, 1960 (Act 29). On the facts, the
appellant had no authority to do any of the acts specified in section 31 (d)-(f) of the Act
Searches
Section 88-95, section 75-83, sections 73(1) (3), Sections 4 & 8, sections 92-99, Articles 15& 18
section summary
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Section - 4 - Search of Place entered by person
sought to be Arrested
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may enter the place and search therein for the
person to be arrested, and, in order to effect
entrance into that place, break open any outer or
inner door or window of any house or place, whether
that of the person to be arrested, or of any other
person or otherwise effect entry, if after
notification of his authority and purpose, and
demand of admittance duly made, he cannot
otherwise obtain admittance.
Section - 8 - Search of Arrested Person
him.
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(2) Whenever the person arrested can be legally
person, any-
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alleged to have committed.
by another woman.
person.
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about his person.
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charge therein mentioned and to be further dealt
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Section - 76 - Execution of Warrant Directed to
Police Officer
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the warrant to a police officer, forward it by post
executed.
jurisdiction.
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the jurisdiction of the Court issuing it, he shall take
executed.
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jurisdiction the warrant is to be executed will
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the District Magistrate within the local limits of
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security, as the case may be, and shall forward the
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(a) anything upon or in respect of which any
offence has been or is suspected to have been
committed, for which according to any law for
the time being in force, the offender may be
arrested without warrant; or
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discretion, authorise the police officer or
other person to whom it is addressed to
execute it at any hour.
Section - 90 - Persons in Charge of Closed
Place to Allow Ingress
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should be made, such person may be searched.
If such person is a woman the provisions of
section 8 (3) shall be observed.
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excuse, is an offence according to any law for the
time being in force, the Magistrate may direct it to
be detained for production in evidence or to be
otherwise dealt with as the case may require.
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Section - 93 - Search without a Warrant in
Cetain Cases where Articles are Being Conveyed
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Section - 94 - Search of Premises without
Warrant
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confined to any particular property, but may
be general.
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execution of the bond. Upon the breach of any
such conditions, proceedings under section 104
may be taken for the forfeiture of the
deposit in the same manner and to the same
extent as if a bond for the amount of the
deposit had in fact been executed.
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