From the 1st January 2006 the police will have new powers of arrest.

See "Its Cuff Justice" Daily Mirror - 30th December 2005

This derives from legislative changes to Section 24 of PACE (arrest without warrant for arrestable offences) from Section 110 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005.

Note: Dr Jepson's view is that a lot will depend on how this new legislation is interpreted by the courts - essentially because the wording of the legislation is open to different interpretations. See wording of the legislation: "But the power of summary arrest conferred by subsection (1), (2) or (3) is exercisable only if the constable has reasonable grounds for believing that for any of the reasons mentioned in subsection (5) it is necessary to arrest the person in question." It is also

It is also worth recalling that - as per PACE - the police still need "reasonable grounds of suspicion" to stop and search.

Students should also note that from the 1st December 2005 - as a result of the Drugs Act 2005 - the police will be allowed to test for drugs on arrest.