This is the second in our series by the Guyana Bar Association outlining for the benefit of citizens, the power of arrest, detention and search conferred by the law on the Police Force. The articles will also look at the ramifications, both administrative and legal, of excesses by the authorities
Whenever an arrest is effected by a member of the Police Force, a number of obligations are imposed on that arresting officer by virtue of our common law and the Constitution of Guyana.
First, the arresting officer must inform the person arrested of the reason for his arrest. The right to be informed is generally set out in the Constitution and must be communicated to the prisoner as soon as reasonably practicable in a language he understands.
Under the common law, the arresting officer
