Getting arrested is never a pleasant experience and many people in this country are wrongfully arrested on a daily basis, partly due to not knowing their rights.
The most common situation where you find unlawful arrests occurring is during roadblocks where people are being arrested for unpaid traffic fines. During a roadblock, vehicle registrations are fed into a computer that shows whether or not the owner of the vehicle has any outstanding fines. Generally, if a fine remains unpaid after its payment or court date, the courts will issue a summons for you to appear in court and if you fail to do so, a warrant of arrest will be issued by the courts for the owner of the vehicle.
However, even if there is a warrant for your arrest, the police may only arrest you under the following circumstances.
• They must have the original warrant for your arrest. Having a copy or stating that the original warrant is at the police station is not good enough, they have to show you the warrant there and then.
• They must prove that you received the summons in person. It would have either been delivered to you in person or you would have had to fetch the registered letter at the post office. If they cannot prove that you personally received the summons, then the warrant of arrest will also not be enforceable.
With the above being said, if you are stopped and they want to arrest you, demand to see the warrant of arrest as well as proof that you received the summons. If they don’t have the above, then the arrest is illegal and you can refuse to go with them.
If they still arrest you, inform them that you will be pressing charges against the arresting officers for an unlawful arrest, and be sure to request their names and badge numbers for the purposes of pressing the charges. Record everything that is said to you as well as the chronological procedure of the events in detail.
These details will assist you in having a strong case against the police.
Furthermore, there was a directive issued by the law society that mentions that if a person is unlawfully arrested and the police take possession of his/her vehicle and drive it, this may constitute theft on the part of the police.
Should you be the victim of this offence, we recommend that you approach an attorney to institute a claim on your behalf.
Article contributed by Kenny Smith and Justin Ferreira.
For more information on this article, feel free to contact our offices on info@tuckers.co.za or 011 897 1900.
