ACTIn ForceAct
Crimes Act 1900
212Power of arrest without warrant by police officers
Start here
Get a plain-English read of 212
Turn the raw legal text into a practical explanation grounded in Crimes Act 1900.
212 Power of arrest without warrant by police officers
(1) A police officer may, without warrant, arrest a person for an offence
if the police officer suspects on reasonable grounds that—
(a) the person has committed or is committing the offence; and
(b) proceedings by summons against the person would not achieve
1 or more of the following purposes:
(i) ensuring the appearance of the person before a court in
respect of the offence;
(ii) preventing a repetition or continuation of the offence or the
commission of another offence;
(iii) preventing the concealment, loss or destruction of evidence
relating to the offence;
(iv) preventing harassment of, or interference with, a person
who may be required to give evidence in proceedings in
respect of the offence;
(v) preventing the fabrication of evidence in respect of the
(vi) preserving the safety or welfare of the person.
(2) A police officer may, without warrant, arrest a person for a family
violence offence if the police officer suspects on reasonable grounds
that the person has committed or is committing the offence.
(a) a person has been arrested under subsection (1) or (2) in
connection with an offence; and
(b) before the person is charged with the offence, the police officer
in charge of the investigation into the offence does not have, or
ceases to have, reasonable grounds to suspect that—
(i) the person committed the offence; or
(ii) for a person arrested under subsection (1)—holding the
person in custody is necessary to achieve any of the
purposes referred to in subsection (1) (b);
the person shall forthwith be released from custody in respect of
(4) A police officer may, without warrant, arrest a person whom he or
she suspects on reasonable grounds has escaped from lawful custody
to which the person is still liable in respect of an offence.
family violence offence—see the Family Violence Act 2016,