Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984
The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 or PACE is an Act of Parliament that specifies the framework for how the police in England and Wales are to pursue their duties and to safeguard the public from abuse of police power. The provisions of PACE include rules that cover a variety of common situations for law enforcement officers both in the Police service and in other services. This includes on-street "stop and search" of persons and vehicles, the search of premises, the seizure of property during investigations, the identification of suspects, arrest, audio and video recording of interviews with suspects and the extra powers covering the investigation and detention of suspects in terrorism investigations.
In Northern Ireland, similar provisions are made by the Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 (SI 1989/1341), a statutory instrument.