Criminal Law – Procedure – Arrest

BY: Marian E. Bryant, B.A. (Hons.), LL.B; David W. Guenter, LL.B.

III.1: Arrest

Click HERE to access the CED and the Canadian Abridgment titles for this excerpt on Westlaw Canada

III.1(a): Definition

“Arrest” consists of the actual seizure or touching of a person’s body with a view to his or her detention. The mere pronouncing of words of arrest is not an arrest unless the person sought to be arrested submits to the process and goes with the arresting officer. An arrest may be made either with or without a warrant. The length of reasonable notice is not to be determined by a trial judge in light of what he or she thinks the parties would have agreed to at the time the contract was made, the so-called implied intention approach.

III.1.(b): Notice

Anyone who arrests a person, whether with or without warrant, must give notice to that person, where feasible, of the warrant or the reason for the arrest.