Legal Studies 3080

The Arrest Continued


The chief purposes for an arrest are 

  •   to preserve evidence;
  •   and to ensure that the accused will not flee or commit further crimes. 


If you resist arrest, the officer may use as much force against you as is necessary to prevent your escape - but no more. If other procedures are clearly followed, no actual physical contact is necessary.

There are two types of arrest:

  • arrest with a warrant, or
  • arrest without a warrant.


Arrest with a Warrant

As in the case of a summons, a warrant is issued by a justice of the peace when a police officer has sworn out (or laid ) an information and the justice is satisfied that there are grounds for the warrant. The warrant will either name or give a description of the accused, it will lay out the charge against the accused, and it will order the police to arrest that person and bring him or her before the court. The seriousness of the crime and the likelihood the accused won't show up for the trial are taken into consideration during this process; and if the justice of the peace believes that it is not in the best interests of the public to issue a warrant, a summons may be issued instead.


Arrest without a Warrant

If you watch police shows on TV or in the movies, it is arrest without a warrant that probably springs to mind when you think about the police arresting anyone. Any officer may make an arrest without a warrant in the following situations:

  • There are reasonable and probable grounds to believe that the suspect has committed or is about to commit an indictable offence or is in the process of committing either an indictable or summary conviction offence.
  • There are reasonable and probable grounds for believing that the suspect is wanted on a prior arrest warrant.
  • The officer has served the suspect with an appearance notice and the suspect refused to accept it.
  • A bench warrant has been issued for the suspect because he or she failed to appear in court following a summons.