Correct on the date of publication - 22 June 2026
Question:
I notice that many powers under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 are now contingent of the crime being investigated being a 'recordable offence'. What does this mean?
Answer:
The change came about because of the discontinuance of the terms 'arrestable offence' and 'serious arrestable offence' following the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005.
A recordable offence is one that the Secretary of State deems should be recorded in national police records (see section 118(1) of PACE and the National Police Records (Recordable Offences) Regulations 2000). However if you consult the Codes of Practice, Code D, see note 4A which also gives some useful guidance.
The term predominantly means any offence for which a sentence of imprisonment can be imposed as well as a number of non-imprisonable offences, which have been specified by the Secretary of State in regulations as being required to be recorded on PNC. These offences include, but are not limited to, offences under the Vagrancy Act 1824, the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Licensing Act 2003.
View the full Legal Q&A document here, with links to related and similar legal questions.
For quick and easy access in the future, click the pin icon from the top right of any document to save it to 'My Documents'.
