There is this unfortunate practice that some law enforcement agencies do engage in; if they need to arrest a suspect and the suspect is at large (that is cannot be found), they will arrest and detain somebody close to the suspect which is usually a family member or a friend or a colleague until the suspect shows up.
I have severally heard of a law enforcement officer calling a suspect who is at large and threatening to arrest and detain someone who has a close relationship with the suspect until the suspect turns himself in before the other person could be released.
This used to be a strong practice amongst law enforcement agencies until some lawyers and rights activists campaigned against it and this practice is called substitution arrest or arrest in lieu.
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Substitutional arrest is the arrest of one person in lieu or in place of another. It occurs when a person who has not committed or has not been alleged of committing any offence is arrested because their friend, colleague or relative who is alleged of committing an offence cannot be found or arrested by the police.
This practice is illegal and unconstitutional and anybody who is arrested or detained in lieu of another person has the right to action against that law enforcement agency.
The law is to the effect that nobody should be made to suffer or pay for the sins of another person. A husband should never be arrested or made to suffer for the crime of his wife, so also the wife for the husband or the parents for the child or the child for the parents. Nobody is Jesus Christ and therefore cannot be prosecuted for the offence of another person; individuals are to bear and pay for the crimes alone and if the suspect cannot be found or cannot be brought to book to answer for the crime that becomes the end of the case.
The exception to this rule is that if a person is found to have participated or in any way or capacity contributed as an accessory either before or after the fact to the commission of the crime, then that person could be arrested and detained but for only the part he or she played in the commission of the crime. Also, the law enforcement agency can invite a person who has no part in the commission of a crime if they believe that the person has some vital information that will be useful to them or that will facilitate the arrest of the suspect or help with their investigation. When a person is invited, he may be asked to write a statement but the law enforcement investigating officer is obligated to inform such a person that he or she is not under arrest and can decide to leave whenever they want to.
Prohibition of substitutional arrest or arrest in lieu has been provided in Section 7 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 which states that “a person shall not be arrested in the place of a suspect”. This summarily implies that it is illegal for the police to arrest a person who has no direct or indirect participation in the commission of a crime.
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