Short answer. You can. Article 269 punishes arresting or detaining another for the purpose of delivering him to the authorities in any case other than those authorised by law, or without reasonable ground. Handing the person over is therefore no defence — it is part of what the article describes.
What the law says
any person who, in any case other than those authorized by law, or without reasonable ground therefor, shall arrest or detain another for the purpose of delivering him to the proper authorities
Revised Penal Code, Article 269 — Unlawful Arrest. Read the full provision →
The good motive is built into the offence
This is the part that surprises people. Article 269 applies to any person who, in any case other than those authorized by law, or without reasonable ground therefor, shall arrest or detain another for the purpose of delivering him to the proper authorities. The purpose of turning the person over is not what excuses the act; it is what distinguishes this offence from other forms of unlawful detention. So the answer to a complaint under this article is never "I was going to hand him to the police" — that was assumed by the drafters when they wrote it.
What actually determines whether the act was lawful
Two things, either of which takes the conduct outside the article. The first is that the case was one authorized by law — the situations in which a private person may lawfully arrest are defined, and they are narrower than the general sense that someone has done something wrong. The second is that there was reasonable ground for the arrest. Both are assessed on what was known at the time and on the surrounding circumstances, not on what was discovered afterwards, so an arrest that turns out to have been of the right person is not automatically excused.
How long you held him, and how, still matters
The article speaks of arresting or detaining, so the conduct it covers is not confined to the moment of seizure. A restraint that continues well beyond what handing the person over required, or that involves force or confinement out of proportion to the situation, may raise questions that this article is not the only provision addressing. Conduct during the hold is a separate matter from whether the initial arrest was justified, and both are looked at. That distinction is worth understanding before giving any account of what happened.
If a complaint has been made against you
Write down, while it is fresh, exactly what you saw before you acted — what put you on notice, in what order, and who else was present. Note the time you took hold of the person, the time the police arrived, and what was said. Preserve any recording, message or CCTV, since footage is routinely overwritten within days. Then take that to a lawyer before giving a statement. Whether the case falls within one of the situations the law authorises is a legal judgment, and it is not one to make on your own account of events.
Related provisions
- Revised Penal Code, Article 269 — Unlawful Arrest
- Revised Penal Code, Article 268 — Slight Illegal Detention