Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, section 24A

Arrest without warrant: other persons

Part III Arrest

(1)A person other than a constable may arrest without a warrant—

(a)anyone who is in the act of committing an indictable offence;

(b)anyone whom he has reasonable grounds for suspecting to be committing an indictable offence.

(2)Where an indictable offence has been committed, a person other than a constable may arrest without a warrant—

(a)anyone who is guilty of the offence;

(b)anyone whom he has reasonable grounds for suspecting to be guilty of it.

(3)But the power of summary arrest conferred by subsection (1) or (2) is exercisable only if—

(a)the person making the arrest has reasonable grounds for believing that for any of the reasons mentioned in subsection (4) it is necessary to arrest the person in question; and

(b)it appears to the person making the arrest that it is not reasonably practicable for a constable to make it instead.

(4)The reasons are to prevent the person in question—

(a)causing physical injury to himself or any other person;

(b)suffering physical injury;

(c)causing loss of or damage to property; or

(d)making off before a constable can assume responsibility for him.

[F101 (5)This section does not apply in relation to an offence under Part 3 or 3A of the Public Order Act 1986.F101,F100]]

Cases considering section 24A 5

R v Samuel Miller & Anor

[2024] EWCA Crim 794 · 21 June 2024Interprets

The court held that section 24A provides a citizen’s-arrest regime but does not itself authorise force. The reasonableness of force used in effecting an arrest is determined under section 3 of the Criminal Law Act 1967 (see paras [47]; [48]).

Faraj, R v

[2007] EWCA Crim 1033 · 4 May 2007Defines

The court treated the provision as conferring a limited citizen’s power of arrest where there are reasonable grounds to suspect an indictable offence and reasonable grounds to believe arrest is necessary to prevent, among other matters, property loss or damage. It did not resolve how that objective requirement interacts with an honest but unreasonable mistaken belief in criminal proceedings. (see paras [9]; [19]-[21])

Morris v R

[2013] EWCA Crim 436 · 16 April 2013

The court confirmed that the trial judge’s direction on the statutory requirements for a lawful citizen’s arrest accurately reflected this provision. That direction did not remove the separate prevention-of-crime defence (see paras [10]-[11]; [20]).

What each judgment says about section 24A is in the case-law panel in the full Act.

Amendments and notes

6 notes from legislation.gov.uk

Amendments

  1. F100Ss. 24, 24A substituted for s. 24 (1.1.2006) by Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (c. 15), ss. 110, 178; S.I. 2005/3495, art. 2(m)
  2. F101S. 24A(5) added (1.10.2007) by Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 (c. 1), ss. 2, 3(2); S.I. 2007/2490, art. 2(1)

Modifications

  1. C297S. 24A restricted (25.7.2012) by The Police and Crime Commissioner Elections Order 2012 (S.I. 2012/1917), arts. 1(2), 17(4)
  2. C298S. 24A restricted (W.) (16.12.2010) by The National Assembly for Wales Referendum (Assembly Act Provisions) (Referendum Question, Date of Referendum Etc.) Order 2010 (S.I. 2010/2837), art. 26, Sch. 4 para. 2(4)
  3. C299S. 24A restricted (1.1.2007) by Electoral Administration Act 2006 (c. 22), ss. 71, 77; S.I. 2006/3412, art. 3, Sch. 1 para. 9 (with Sch. 2)
  4. C300S. 24A restricted (W.) (18.7.2025) by The Senedd Cymru (Representation of the People) Order 2025 (S.I. 2025/864), arts. 1(2), 30(4) (with art. 1(4))