ARREST is a legal term used both in criminal and civil process. Criminal A. has already been sufficiently considered under the word APPREITEND (q.v.); and in civil pro cedure it may be simply defined to be the execution of a judicial or prerogative order, by which the liberty of the person may be restrained, and obedience to the law compelled. In the practice of the court of chancery, a defendant may be arrested for his contempt in not his answer to a bill tiled against him; and persons in all the superior courts may be'arrested or attached for contempt. But in its ordinary legal acceptation, A. is used to signify the enforcement of the judgment or order of a court of law, in order to satisfy justice. In the execution of such judgment, the party against whom it lies been given may be arrested by means of a writ of copies ad satisfaciendum, or a ca. sa., the purpose of which is to imprison the body of the debtor till he pays the debt or damages and costs. It is directed to the sheriff, commanding him to take the body of the debtor, and have him at Westminster immediately after execution thereof, to make the plain tiff satisfaction for his demand. This writ might, at one time, issue for a judgment debt of any amount; but by very recent statutes it was provided that it shall not issue in the case of a debt not exceeding £50, exclusive of costs; subject, however, to this proviso, that where such debt should appear to the judge the cause (being a judge of the superior courts, or a barrister or attorney) to have trying incurred under false pretenses, or with a fraudulent intent, or without a reasonable assurance of being able to pay or discharge the same, it shall be lawful for such judge to order the ant to be taken and detained in execution upon such judgment, as if the act had not passed. This has since been adopted as the general law applicable to debts of any amount, and the abolition of imprisonment for debt was effected by the debtors act. 32 and 33 Vict. c. 62. No person, since 1869, can be imprisoned in England for making default in payment of a sum of money except in a few rare cases; such as when a court has ordered a sum of money to be paid, and it is not paid, and the debtor has since ;acquired the means to pay it, but refuses. In such cases the judge may order the ,debtor to be committed to prison for six weeks or less until the money is paid. So that .under this statute of 1869 none can be imprisoned for debt except for some special ,cause resembling fraud; and even then the imprisonment is limited to one year.
A defendant may also be arrested under a writ of capias ad responde-ndum, which issues as follows: Where a plaintiff swears by affidavit that he has a cause of action against a defendant to the amount of £50 or upwards, or has sustained damage to that amount, that there is reason for believing that the defendant is about to quit the coun try, and that his absence will be detrimental to the plaintiff's action. An order is made
by a judge, when the writ in question issues, directing the sheriff to arrest the defendant, who remains in custody until he has given security in respect of the plaintiff's demand. But this imprisonment cannot exceed six months. This proceeding is now regulated by the absconding debtors act, 33 and 34 Viet. c. 76. Formerly might be arrested on what is called mesne process, that is, process issuing at the commencement and during the progress of a suit; but by recent statutes such A. is abolished, excepting as above explained.
Under such and similar authority, A. may be made of the person. There are classes, however, who are exempted by privilege from A.—thus, ambassadors and other diplo matic representatives of foreign courts; all members of the peerage, Scotch and Irish as well as English; all members of parliament; all persons connected witha cause before a court of justice, and attending in the course of it, such as witnesses, attorneys, and barristers—although, in regard to the latter (barristers), it may be more correctly stated that they are entitled to the privilege only when attending the superior courts; and Mr. Archibold, in his Practice of the Common Law, refers to a case where a barrister was discharged who was arrested on circuit. The queen may also, by her writ of protection, privilege any person in her service from A. during a year and a day, a prerogative, how ever, which is seldom, and, at the present day, scarcely ever exercised. In regard to parliamentary exemption from liability to civil process, however, the privilege does not preclude the process from issuing. it only protects the person of the member himself; for by 10 Geo. III. c. 50, it is enacted that any action or suit may at any time be brought against any person entitled to privilege of parliament; and that no such process shall at any time be impeached or delayed by pretense of any such privilege, except that the person of a member of the house of commons shall not thereby be subjected to any arrest or imprisonment. It is likewise provided by the bankruptcy act, 1869 (32 and 33 Viet. c. '71, s. 120), that if a person having privilege of parliament commits an act of bankruptcy, he may be dealt with as if lie had no privilege. When be is adjudged a bankimpt, he will for one year following be deemed incapable of sitting in parliament unless he -satisfy the creditors, and if he do not, then his seat becomes vacant. But now, as all persons, including peers, may be made bankrupt, none is liable to arrest unless he in some way thwart theproceedings in bankruptcy or abscond.
In the Scotch law, the word A. is not a technical term for process against the person. But see ARRE43TMENT, and ARRESTII.K.NT FOR FOUNDIXO JURISDICTION.