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.