Detaining of a person by security personnel

Previously we had examined powers of security.  The feature is absence of physical contact between guardian and offender. However, the most contradictive part of the Law of Ukraine “On security activity” is related to physical contact with person who offends a public order. We will look through legal details of security’s powers while detention of person.

The Article12 of the Law of Ukraine “On a security activity” defines that guardians have a right not to let inside and detent person who tries to get into a security object or leave it while they break rules. But security must report about it to the police. Legal features of this clause are related to categories of a security object. If there is a pass through regime then security has a right to detent person who break rules and report about it to the police. Most people are interested whether security has a right to detent person in a shop. The most popular situation is detention of a person who is suspected in thief. Obviously, it is an infringement. So a guardian has a right to detent person and report about it immediately. According to the Article 16 of the Law it is not an administrative detention. That’s why an offender must be transferred to the police for examination.

However, there are legal problems of using this clause. The Article 29 of the Constitution of Ukraine guarantees citizens a right for freedom and personal integrity. This article regulates the rights of detented person which don’t depend on the types of detention. As follows, right of person who is detented by security must be kept according to the Article 29. Unfortunately, guardians are not acquainted with this clause and it can lead to litigations in the future. So security should follow rules of the Constitution of Ukraine, tell a detented person about his or her rights and report about it to relatives immediately while realization of the Article 12 of the Law of Ukraine “On a security activity”.

One of the most important moments is reporting to the police about detention. The law of Ukraine “On a security activity” defines that it must be done immediately. Personnel very often ignore this matter and try to compensate losses or get back goods by themselves. As a result report about detention comes not immediately and it is a violation of the law. That’s why time and reasons of detention have to be noted. Legal acts don’t regulate this procedure so it can be drafted by security and signed by them, representatives of a shop and detected person. This information is necessary for the police. This document together with a video record let justify actions of security in a case of examination by prosecutors in a court.