Citizen's arrest

A citizen's arrest is an arrest made by a private citizen – a person who is not acting as a sworn law-enforcement official.^[1] In common law jurisdictions, the practice dates back to medieval England and the English common law, in which sheriffs encouraged ordinary citizens to help apprehend law breakers.^[2]

Despite the practice's name, in most countries the arresting person is usually designated as a person with arrest powers, who need not be a citizen of the country in which they are acting. For example, in England and Wales, the power comes from Section 24A(2) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984,^[3] called "any person arrest". This legislation states "any person" has these powers, and does not state that they need to be a British citizen.