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by grkvlt 2558 days ago
And note that within the UK there are some big differences! The wiki link in the parent comment is for the England and Wales version of the police statement made at time of arrest, which points out that:

> You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention, when questioned, something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.

But in Scotland, which has a slightly different (and obviously, of course, much better) legal system, the police statement is:

> You are not obliged to say anything but anything you do say will be noted and may be used in evidence.

The difference is due to the fact that under Scots Law, no adverse inference can be drawn based on a persons silence.

I am not a lawyer, but I would assume that they would recommend getting arrested in Scotland, rather than England, if you absolutely must commit crimes in the UK...
1 comments
pbhjpbhj 2558 days ago
Ooh, I've never thought about it before, how do police chases work at the border. Presumably Scottish police or English police have the right to arrest following a border chase, or do they have to detain and get assistance for the actual arrest.

Reminds me of a trope from old USAmerican movies where criminals are trying to reach the state line because the police aren't allowed to cross it.

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grkvlt 2558 days ago
As with all things like this, it's complicated.[0]

It used to be the case that the right did not exist, but there are now provisions that allow cross-border arrests under 'urgent' circumstances even if there is no arrest warrant. This is confounded by the fact that some crimes do not exist or have different names or are classified differently. So, if I was North of the border in possession of an air rifle without a license, and was then chased by a Scottish Constable across the border into England, well... I have no idea if they could then detain (that is, arrest) me, since in England air weapons do not require a license. Anyone curious about this should try the experiment and report the results...!

0. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/...

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