A police officer who arrests without warrant under s 352(2)(a) of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) must have reasonable cause to suspect an offence has been committed; the burden of justifying the arrest lies on the arresting party, not on the arrested person to point out the officer's error. Speaking to a third party about a situation involving a person protected by an AVO, where the third party independently decides to speak to the protected person who then voluntarily leaves, does not constitute a breach of conditions prohibiting intimidation, harassment, molestation or contact. The question whether abuse of a lawful power of arrest can render the arrest unlawful was expressly left open.
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