The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 defined certain offences in English and Welsh law as Arrestable Offences. This then gave police certain powers in relation to these offences including entry to premises, arrest, searches following arrest and certain provisions whilst detained in custody. The concept of an 'Arrestable Offence' was abolished on 1 January 2006 by the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005.

Section 24 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 defined an arrestable offence as:

• An offence for which the sentence is fixed by law; i.e. Murder.
• Offences for which a person 18 years old or older, who had not previously been convicted, could be sentenced to a term of 5 years or more. This constituted the vast majority of offences, including theft, serious assault, burglary and criminal damage.
• Offences that were listed in Schedule 1A of the Act, which contained a long list of offences that do not attract at least a 5 year sentence but were considered to require the powers an 'Arrestable Offence' designation confers. Examples included possession of an offensive weapon, ticket touting and driving whilst disqualified.

With the increasing number of newly created offences being included in Schedule 1A and thus being made arrestable, it was perhaps unsurprising that the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 made all offences arrestable, and thus the category 'Arrestable Offence' ceased to have effect. The question now for police is whether it is "necessary" to arrest the relevant person.

References

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Zander (2005). The Police and Criminal Evidence Act (5th ed.). Sweet & Maxwell. ISBN 0421905808

Criminal law | Law enforcement in the United Kingdom