There are several statutes ascertaining the amount of the sums for which an arrest may be made. Thus, by 12 Geo. I. c. 29, and 5 Geo. II. c. 27, both made per petual by 21 Geo. II. c. 3, no person can be arrested, or held to bail, on a writ sued out of the superior courts, unless the cause of action amount to 101. By stat. 19 Geo. III. c. 70, no person can be arrested, or held to bail, upon process out of any inferior court, for a sum under 101. ; but proceedings are to be had, in the in ferior courts, according to the directions of 12 Geo. I. c. 29, extended by 19 Geo. III. to debts under 10/. It is now settled. both in King's Bench and Common Pleas, that a defendant may be arrested in an action on a judg ment for 10!. for damages and costs, although the ori ginal debt alone should be less than 10/.* Arrest, in criminal cases, is defined to be, the appre hending or restraining one's person, in order that he may be forthcoming to answer an alleged or suspected crime. To this species of arrest all persons whatsoever are liable without distinction ; but no one may be ar rested, unless charged with such a crime as will at least justify holding him to bail. As in civil causes, arrest is made for the purpose of securing the debtor's ap pearance ; so, in criminal matters, after presentment or indictment found in felony, Ste. the first step of process is a capias, to arrest and imprison the offender : and if he cannot be taken, an exigent is awarded, in order to outlawry.
Arrest, in criminal cases, may be made in four ways.
I. By warrant, which may be granted, in extraordi nary cases, by the privy council, or secretaries of state; but ordinarily by justices of the peace. In the latter case, the warrant should be under the hand and seal of the justice, setting forth the time and place of making, and the cause for which it is made ; and it should be di rected to the constable, or other peace officer, requir ing him to bring the party either generally before any justice of the peace for the county, or only before the justice who granted it ; the warrant in the latter case being called a special warrant. General warrants to ap prehend all persons suspected, without specially nam ing or describing an individual, are void and illegal.. (Money v. Leach. Trin. 5 Geo. III. B. R.; and Corn. Journ. 22 Apr. 1766.) When the officer receives a warrant, he is bound to execute it, so far as the jurisdiction of the magistrate and himself extends. A warrant from the chief, or other justice of the king's Bench, extends all over the kingdom : but the warrant of a justice of the peace in one county must be backed or countersigned by a justice of the peace in another, before it can be executed there. This practice of backing warrants had long prevailed without law, but was at length sanctioned by the statutes 23 Geo. II. c. 26, and 24 Geo. II. c. 55.
2. Arrests may be executed without warrant by a jus tice of the peace, by the sheriff, the coroner, the con stable, and by watchmen.
3. All private persons who happen to be present when a felony is committed, arc bound by the law to arrest the felon, on an of fine and imprisonment, if he es capes through their negligence. They may even kill him, if he cannot be otherwise taken. A private per son may also arrest upon suspicion ; but this is barely permitted, and not enjoined by the law ; and therefore he cannot justify breaking open doors to do it : and if either party kill the other in the attempt, it amounts to manslaughter.
4. The fourth mode of arrest is by huc and cry, (hute slum et clamor) raised upon the commission of a felony. This is the old common law process of pursuing, with horn and with voice, all felons, and such as have dan gel ously wounded another. For an account of its origin and effects, see HUE AND CRY.
B,sides these precautions for securing the persons of criminals, there are several acts of parliament which directly encourage the apprehending of felons, by re wards and immunities held out to such as shall bring them to justice. By the stat. 4 and 5 W. and M. c. 8. such as apprehend a highwayman, and prosecute him to conviction, shall receive a reward of 401. from the pub lic ; to be paid to them (or if they be killed in the at tempt, to their executors) by the sheriff of the county : to which 101. are added by stat. 8 Geo. II. c. 16, to be paid by the hundred indemnified by such taking. Any person apprehending and prosecuting to conviction a felon guilty of burglary or private larceny, to the amount of five shillings, from any shop, warehousot coachhouse, or stable, shall, by 10 and 11 W. III. c. 23, be excused from all parish offices. And by 5 Ann. c. 31, any person so apprehending and prosecuting a bur glar, or felonious housebreaker, shall be entitled to a reward of 401. By 6 and 7 W. III. c. 17, and 15 Geo. II. c. 18, persons apprehending and convicting such as are guilty of offence against the statutes which respect the coinage, shall receive a reward of 40/. in cases of treason or felony ; or 10/. if the offence amount only to counterfeiting the copper coin. Persons apprehending and prosecuting to conviction, any one taking reward for helping others to stolen goods, is entitled to a re ward of 401. by 6 Geo. 1. c. 23. By 14 Geo. II. c. 16, and 15 Geo. II. c. 34, any person apprehending and con victing such as are guilty of stealing, or of killing with intent to steal, any sheep or other cattle specified in the latter act, shall receive 101. reward for every con viction. Those who shall discover, apprehend, and convict felons, and others found at large during the term of their transportation, snail receive a reward of 201. by 16 Geo. II. c. 15, and 8 Geo. III. c. 15. (Illackst. Com ment. vol. iii. p. 288. and vol. iv. p. 286. Jacob's Law Diet. by Tomlin's, V. ARREST.) (z)