Public order offences and powers of arrest

Information

The Gardaí in Ireland have the powers to arrest without warrant people guilty of the following offences under the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act, 1994:

• Being intoxicated in a public place (Section 4)
• Committing threatening or abusive behaviour in a public place (Section 6)
• Distributing or displaying threatening, obscene or insulting material in a public place (Section 7)
• Failing to comply with the direction of a Garda (Section 8)
• Entering a building, etc, with intent to commit an offence (Section 11)
• Trespassing on a dwelling, etc. (Section 13)
• Rioting (Section 14)
• Committing acts of violent disorder (Section 15)
• Committing affray (Section 16)
• Blackmailing and demanding money with menaces (Section 17)
• Committing an assault with intent to cause bodily harm or to commit an indictable offence (Section 18)
• Assaulting or obstructing a peace officer (Section 19).

As can be seen from the above, the Gardaí are given a power of arrest without warrant for almost all of the offences contained in this Act.

The bystander test

For the offence of riot, violent disorder or affray, the bystander test is applied. This means that you need not be present at the scene of the event or offence while it is being committed but, if you were present, you would fear for your own safety or the safety of someone else.

Public place

In the Act a number of offences are included which only become offences if they are committed in a public place. For example, offences under Sections 4 to 9 of the Act are limited to a public place. The definition of a public place is contained in Section 3 of the Act and includes almost all places. It is one of the widest definitions of a public place in the criminal justice system.

You can read more about public order offences by clicking here.

Public order offences and the Adult Cautioning Scheme

Under the Adult Cautioning Scheme (introduced in February 2006), a number of public order offences are included in the list of offences which may be dealt with by way of caution under the Scheme. If you are cautioned under this Scheme it means you are not brought into the court system. The public order offences which can be dealt with by way of caution are:

• Being intoxicated in a public place (Section 4)
• Committing disorderly conduct in a public place (Section 5)
• Threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour in a public place (Section 6)
• Failing to comply with a direction of a Garda (Section 8)
• Committing wilful obstruction (Section 9)
• Entering a building, etc., with intent to commit an offence (Section 11)
• Surrendering and having seized intoxicating liquor, etc., (Section 22)

There is more information on the Adult Cautioning Scheme here.