Andrew Dickens: The Government's proposed changes to loosen citizen arrest laws lack detail

The power of citizen’s arrest was all the talk yesterday.  

And I think we all agree that poor old dairy owners and small retailers who watch ratbags nicking their stuff need the ability to be able to detain the thieves.  

But the announcement comes without many details.  

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says the changes will expand a person’s ability to detain someone committing a crime to any time of the day and over any stolen goods.  

Under current legislation, a citizen’s arrest couldn’t be made outside the hours of 9pm-6am unless the goods being stolen were worth at least $1000. You can make a citizen’s arrest, but you need to know your law.  

You need to know whether the crime committed is going to attract a custodial sentence of more than three years and you need to know the legal definition of reasonable.  

When appearing on Ryan Bridge's show last night the Minister stammered and stressed that it’s only a proposal and he seemed vague on the rules of engagement. Which is critical information.  

In other interviews the Minister also said that the courts will provide guidance as to the boundaries of the law.  

In other words. Have a crack. And if it all goes wrong and the shopkeeper ends out in court, we’ll figure out the rules better.  

No wonder many in retail say it will change nothing.  

It’s a big risk taking on a criminal. You’ll probably discover they’re much more at home with violence than you are.  

Already we’ve seen shopkeepers defend their shop from robbers with softball bats and not get into trouble so does it really help.  

We’ll see when it’s written. At the very least I would like a good robust law that enables shopkeepers to be able to stop customers leaving shops with stuff in their bag.  

You may remember the known criminal Golriz Gharaman got away by refusing a bag check.  

But so far this is an announcement of an announcement and needs a lot more work. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So the power of citizens arrest was all the talk yesterday,
and I think we all agree that poor old dairy
owners and small retailers who watch rat bags nicking their
stuff need the ability to be able to detain the thieves.
But the announcement came without many details. The Justice MINISIP
Paul Goldsmith says the changes will expand a person's ability
to detain someone committing a crime to any time of

(00:20):
the day and over any stolen goods. So what we've
got at the moment citizens arrest can be made right now,
but it can't be made outside the hours of nine
pm to six am unless the goods being stolen are
worth at least one thousand dollars. And you can make
a citizens arrest, but you need to know your law.
You need to know whether the crime committed is going
to attract a custody or sentence of more than three years,

(00:40):
and you need to know the legal definition of reasonable.
So when appearing on Ryan Bridges Show last night, the
Minister stammered and under and ard and then stressed it's
only a proposal, and he seemed vague on the rules
of engagement, which is what we all wanted, and that
is critical information. In other interviews yesterday, the minister also
said the courts will provide guy and says to the

(01:00):
boundaries of the law. So in other words, he's saying,
have a crack and if it all goes horribly wrong
and the shopkeeper ends out in court, well we'll figure
out the rules better. No wonder. Many in retail say
it will change nothing. It is a big risk taking
on a criminal. You'll probably discover they're much more at
home with violence than you are. Already, though, we've seen
shopkeepers defend their shop from robbers with softball bats and

(01:22):
not get into trouble. So does it really help. We
will see when it's written. And at the very least,
I'd like to see a good robust law that enables
shopkeepers to be able to stop customers leaving shops with
stuff in their bag. You may remember the well known
criminal Goalris Garriment got away with refusing a bag check.
I hope that sort of thing stops, But so far
the citizens Arrest law. As I hate to say it,

(01:43):
here comes that phrase. It's a bit of an announcement
of an announcement and it needs a lot more work.
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