Spicer v Holt: HL 1977

Viscount Dilhorne said: ‘ ‘Arrest’ is an ordinary English word. Whether or not a person has been arrested depends not on the legality of the arrest but on whether he has been deprived of his liberty to go where he pleases.’
Lord Edmund-Davies said that there is no separate tort of unlawful or wrongful arrest and that it is a species of false imprisonment because it has the effect of depriving a person of their liberty.

Judges:

Viscount Dilhorne, Lord Edmund-Davies

Citations:

[1977] AC 987

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

CitedMurray v Ministry of Defence HL 25-May-1988
The plaintiff complained that she had been wrongfully arrested by a soldier, since he had not given a proper reason for her detention.
Held: The House accepted the existence of an implied power in a statute which would be necessary to ensure . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Torts – Other

Updated: 04 May 2022; Ref: scu.259574