Warrantless arrests
The right against deprivation of liberty is guaranteed by no less than the Constitution, which states that “[n]o person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law xxx” (Article 3, Section 1) and that “[n]o search warrant or warrant of arrest shall issue except upon probable cause to be determined personally by the judge after examination under oath or affirmation of the complainant and the witnesses he may produce, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.” (Art. 3, Sec. 2)
This right has been characterized by the Supreme Court as “a most basic and fundamental” right that has been “often violated and so deserving of full protection”. As a rule, no arrest may be made without a warrant of arrest. The exceptions (”warrantless arrests“) under the Revised Rules on Criminal Procedure (Rule 113, Sec. 5) are arrests made by a peace officer or a private person:
(a) When, in his presence, the person to be arrested has committed, is actually committing, or is attempting to commit an offense;
(b) When an offense has just been committed and he has probable cause to believe based on personal knowledge of facts or circumstances that the person to be arrested has committed it; and
(c) When the person to be arrested is a prisoner who has escaped from a penal establishment or place where he is serving final judgment or is temporarily confined while his case is pending, or has escaped while being transferred from one confinement to another.
Sec. 5 (a) is also referred to as arrests in flagrante delicto, wherein two elements must exist: (1) the person to be arrested must execute an overt act indicating that he has just committed, is actually committing, or is attempting to commit a crime; and (2) such overt act is done in the presence or within the view of the arresting officer. For an extended legal discussion on in flagrante delicto and “hot pursuit” arrests, click here, here or here.
On the other hand, Section 5 (b) refers to arrests made in “hot pursuit”, wherein two requisites must exist: (1) an offense has in fact just been committed; and (2) the arresting officer has probable cause based on personal knowledge of facts or circumstances indicating that the person to be arrested committed the offense.
