Do the Police need a Court warrant to arrest you?
Depending on the type of criminal offence involved, the Police can arrest you with or without getting a Court-issued warrant to detain you for investigations or to produce you in Court to be formally charged for a criminal offence.
If the Police do not have a Court Warrant, they can only arrest you when they have a reasonable suspicion that you’ve committed an arrestable offence.
Examples of arrestable offences (which is found in the Criminal Procedure Code) include:
- Theft, Cheating and Criminal Breach of Trust (CBT)
- Criminal intimidation and criminal trespass
- Dishonestly receiving or retaining stolen property
- Robbery, unlawful assembly & rioting
- Voluntarily causing grievous hurt, voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means
- Sexual assault by penetration without consent (including oral or anal sex), commercial sex with minor under 18 years of age, doing an obscene act in a public place
- Drug trafficking, possession or consumption
- Offences under the Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act
- Assault or use of criminal make to deter a public servant from discharge of his duty
For non-arrestable offences, the Police will typically need to get a Court Warrant before they can effect an arrest.
