446
§. 1.
What. |
Arrest and Imprisonment.
Arrest and Imprisonment. CHAP. CLXX.
V. 118.
AN Arrest is the apprehending and restraining of
a Mans person, depriving
it of his own will, and may be called the beginning of Imprisonment. |
Chap. 170. |
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Imprisonment is where a Man is arrested against
his will, or is restrained
of his liberty, by putting him into the Gaol, Cage or Stocks,
or into some Houses, or otherwise by keeping him in the High-street,
or open Field, so as he cannot freely go at liberty, when and whither
he would. |
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If the Constable or other Officer, (upon a Warrant
received from a Justice
of Peace) shall come unto the party, and require or charge, or command
him to go or come before the Justice, &c. this is no Arrest or Imprisonment.
And upon a Warrant for the Peace, the Officer ought first to
require the party to go before the Justice before he may arrest him.
See
hereof antea tit. Surety for the Peace. |
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' A Bailiff or Sheriff says to a Man being present,
I arrest you; although
' he touch him not: this is a good Arrest, and if the party go away
it is a
' Rescue, 8 Car. B. R. Sir James Wingfields Case. |
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But this Arrest (being in Execution of the Commandment
of some
Court, or of some Officer of Justice) is expressed in their Writs, Precepts
or Warrants, by these words or the like, sc. Capias, Attachies, &c.
to attach, arrest, take, bring or convey, or cause to be attached or
arrested,
&c. all which words do imply the taking or laying hold of the
person. |
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§. 2.
What Persons. |
To this Arrest all Lay Persons (under the Degree
of Barons or Peers
of the Realm) be subject, and that by Warrant from the Justices of peace,
as you may see here before tit. Surety for the Peace. |
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But the Justices of Peace are not to grant their
Warrants for the Peace,
or the like, against any Nobleman. And yet if a Capias or
Attachment
shall be awarded against a Baron or Peer of the Realm from the Kings
Justices at West. for a Contempt, or in case of Debt or Trespass,
the
Officer without any offence of Law may execute the same, for that the
Officer is not to dispute the authority of the Court. |
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Ecclesiastical persons may also be arrested, and
that by Warrant from
the Justices of peace, in some cases. See hereof tit. Surety for
the Peace. |
See P.
Arrest 1. |
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A Woman Covert may be imprisoned by the Justice
of Peace for a
Force or a Riot committed by her. See antea tit. Forcible Entry,
and
Riots. |
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But otherwise of Infants in such cases (as it seemeth.)
See Ibid. |
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| Infant. |
Yet if an Infant cannot find Sureties for the Peace,
being demanded
against him, he shall be committed until he hath found Sureties.
See
antea. |
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An Infant (though of years of discretion, yet he)
shall suffer no Imprisonment,
nor other Corporal Pain, for any Offence committed or done
by him against any Statute, except that an Infant be expressed by name
in the Statute, Br. Impris. 101. Covert 68. Plo.
364. Doct. & Stud. 147,
148. |
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§. 3.
For what
cause and
by whom. |
The Liberty of a Man is a thing specially favoured
by the Common
Law of this Land; and therefore if any the Kings Subjects shall imprison
another without sufficient Warrant of him, or his Law, the party
grieved may have his Action, and shall recover Damages against the
other; and King also shall have a Fine of him. For Imprisonment |
Co. 9. 56. |
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