Naturism and The Law -Powers of Arrest

What is an arrest?

To arrest someone is to deprive that person of his liberty, to prevent them by force or compulsion from going about their business. The term is normally used in the sense of law enforcement although it is possible for one citizen to lawfully arrest onother in certain strictly defined circumstances.

Police Powers of Arrest

The powers of police officers to make arrests are set out in sections 24 and 25 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act and have recently been altered and greatly extended by the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005

The police have power of arrest in the following situations:

Arrest with a warrant issued by a magistrate - unlikely to affect naturists
Arrest without warrant under the powers of arrest outlined in sections 24 and 25 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act.
Arrest without warrant contained within a particular Act - e.g. Public Order Act 1986
Arrest without warrant to prevent a 'Breach of the Peace'.

Up to 2006 Section 24 of PACE formerly defined "arrestable offences" as follows:

offences for which the sentence is fixed by law - eg murder. There are very few of these and they are not relevant here.
offences for which a person of 18 years or over may be sentenced to imprisonment for a term of five years on first conviction, or
a list of about 25 offences which do not fall within the above 2 conditions.

Please Note:
The information given on this page is intended only as a general guide to the the legal position . It was not written by a legally-qualified individual.
It should not be relied upon as a definitive guide to the law , and is only applicable to England and Wales. The law in Scotland and Northern Ireland may be different.
Neither the author nor the publishers of this FactFile can be held responsible should naturism or nudity cause you to be arrested and / or prosecuted for any offence.