Article 83: Devoirs lors d'une arrestation

Décisions de la Cour suprême interprétant cette section

1. Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 13985/2553 (2010)

   Section 83 paragraph two requires an arresting officer to inform the arrested person of the accusation so that the person knows that the conduct alleged is an offence and understands what that conduct is, for the purpose of giving a statement or defending the case. The officer need not state a charge matching the one the public prosecutor will later bring, because the case must still be investigated to establish whether an offence was committed and which offence it was. Where the inquiry official afterwards notifies a different and more serious charge, that offence has been investigated and the prosecutor has authority to prosecute it.

   The arrest record notified the defendant of possession of methamphetamine, while the inquiry official afterwards notified him of possession with intent to sell. The defendant argued on final appeal that the prosecution for the more serious offence was therefore unauthorised. The Supreme Court held that the purpose of the notification duty in section 83 paragraph two is to let the arrested person understand the conduct alleged against him so that he can give a statement or defend himself, and that the arresting officer's notification need not correspond to the charge eventually prosecuted, since it is the investigation that determines whether and what offence was committed. As the inquiry official had notified possession with intent to sell, that offence had been investigated, the prosecutor had authority to charge it, and the courts below were right to convict on it. The decision addressed the charge-notification duty only, and not the other duties listed in the paragraph.

2. Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 1991/2527 (1984)

   Firing on a fleeing suspect can be treated as an act done in effecting an arrest under Section 83, but stray shots that strike and kill a bystander may amount to defense exceeding what the circumstances required.

   The court treated the accused's shooting of the fleeing suspect as an act of arrest under Section 83, yet held that two rounds which strayed and killed a bystander were defense beyond what the situation warranted.

3. Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 1549/2525 (1982)

   Under the text of Section 83 then in force, the officer was required only to notify the person that he was to be arrested; it did not require the officer to state the charge or to make an arrest record (the notification of the charge being governed instead by Section 134 before the investigating officer).

   Interpreting the former version of Section 83, the court held it obliged the officer only to notify the person of the arrest itself, distinguishing that from the separate charging step before the investigating officer under Section 134.

Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.