In flagrante delicto
in the very act of committing the offense
In flagrante delicto is a Latin term denoting the apprehension of a suspect in the act of committing an offence.
The term 'in flagrante delicto' refers to the situation in which a person is apprehended in the very act of committing a criminal offence. Derived from Latin, the expression is employed in Dutch criminal law to denote that the suspect has been caught literally 'in the burning crime'.
This designation is significant because it empowers the Dutch police to effect an arrest immediately, without a prior warrant. In practice, it prevents the suspect from fleeing or destroying evidence and materially expedites the criminal proceedings.
“The officers entered the premises and apprehended the burglar in flagrante delicto as he was forcing open the safe.”
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