Criminal law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 3

Criminal law - Essay ExampleFirst, polish off and lookup is an important tool for policing in the modern age, particularly with concerns about gang violence, illicit drug use and trafficking and terrorism. Secondly, the use of police force stop and search develop generated signifi rumpt public mistrust in the legitimacy of police practices and this is important since police legitimacy depends largely on public trust and support.4 This paper, is an exploratory pick out and examines and analyses police stop and search powers and the safeguards implicit in the powers from the perspective of police and the community. This paper is divided into two parts. The first part of this paper describes the law related to to police stop and search powers. The second part of the paper analyses stop and search powers from the perspective of police and the public. Police Powers of Stop and Search Police powers of stop and search under ordinary criminal law are contained in three statutes PACE, t he Misuse of Drug Act 1971 and the Criminal Justice and Public establish Act 1994.5 Therefore, police stop and search powers are subject to legislative oversight. ... Moreover, stop and search powers may not be exercised on the basis of heathen or racial profiling. This is arguably the most sensitive issue to which the reasonable suspicion test applies. As Lord Devlin stated, reasonable suspicion would arise where at that place are indications of guilt although there was insufficient proof.7 Thus, a persons race, gender and so on, should not constitute grounds for stop and search as these factors do not constitute indications of guilt It can be argued however that the counterterrorism jurisprudence, may leave open the possibility of racial and/or ethnic profiling. This legislation confers upon senior police officers much broader powers of stop and search. In particular, reasonable grounds to suspect are unnecessary.8 Constables however, may stop and search anyone that they reaso nably suspect to be a terrorist.9 Again this would involve the same limitations on stop and search powers as seen with ordinary powers of stop and search. Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 permits a constable to stop and search vehicles and drivers and pedestrians in specifically authorized places under authorization by senior officers in the prevention of acts of terrorism.10 This is particularly controversial since it can be argued that under Section 44 police may stop and search individuals on the basis of a hunch and there is nothing preventing police exercising this broad power on the basis of racial and ethnic profiling. Section 44 was the subject of debate in Gillan and Quinton v UK. The European motor lodge of Human Rights (ECHRt)ruled that the authorization powers contained in Sections 44-45 of the Terrorism Act 2000 did not contain sufficient safeguards against the protection of privacy guaranteed by Article 8 of the European