This report identifies the powers of arrest currently available in Tasmania and the arrest laws that frame such powers. It shows that there has been a proliferation of arrest powers and that this has caused arrest laws in Tasmania to be unnecessarily complex, inconsistent and uncertain. The Report contains a number of recommendations relating to the consolidation, clarification and simplification of the powers of arrest in Tasmania. Recommendations include that arrest powers in Tasmania be consolidated into one statute and that the distinction between arrestable and non-arrestable offences be eliminated.
The Report also contains a number of recommendations that relate to the introduction of protective provisions for vulnerable persons and that relate to the process of arrest. The Report makes a number of recommendations in relation to the use of force, entry to private premises, the use of arrest warrants and private citizens’ power of arrest.
