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 the safe and effective exercise of an express power. An unconscious or drugged person can be said to have been detained.
Lord Griffiths refused to redefine the tort of false imprisonment so as to require knowledge of the confinement or harm because: ‘The law attaches supreme importance to the liberty of the individual and if he suffers a wrongful interference with that liberty it should remain actionable even without proof of special damage.’
Lord Keith of Kinkel, Lord Templeman, Lord Griffiths, Lord Oliver of Aylmerton, Lord Jauncey of Tullychettle
[1988] 1 WLR 692, [1988] UKHL 13, [1988] 2 All ER 521
Bailii
Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1978 14
Northern Ireland
Citing:
Approved – Meering v Grahame-White Aviation Co Ltd CA 1919
cw An unconscious or drugged person may be detained. For the tort of false imprisonment there must be shown a complete restriction in fact on the plaintiff’s freedom to move: ‘any restraint within defined bounds . .
Extraordinary – Herring v Boyle CExC 1834
A mother went to fetch her 10-year-old son from school on 24 December 1833 to take him home for the Christmas holidays. The headmaster refused to allow her to take her son home because she had not paid the last term’s fees, and he kept the boy at . .
Cited – Christie v Leachinsky HL 25-Mar-1947
Arrested Person must be told basis of the Arrest
Police officers appealed against a finding of false imprisonment. The plaintiff had been arrested under the 1921 Act, but this provided no power of arrest (which the appellant knew). The officers might lawfully have arrested the plaintiff for the . .
Cited – Holgate-Mohammed v Duke HL 1984
A police officer had purported to arrest the plaintiff under the 1967 Act, suspecting her of theft. After interview she was released several hours later without charge. She sought damages alleging wrongful arrest. The judge had found that he had . .
Cited – 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 . .
Cited – Hussien v Chong Fook Kam PC 7-Oct-1969
(Malaysia) The Board considered the propriety of an arrest by the police. Lord Devlin said: ‘An arrest occurs when a police officer states in terms that he is arresting or when he uses force to restrain the individual concerned. It occurs also when . .
Cited by:
Cited – In Re L (By His Next Friend GE); Regina v Bournewood Community and Mental Health NHS Trust, Ex Parte L HL 25-Jun-1998
The applicant was an adult autistic, unable to consent to medical treatment. Treatment was provided at a day centre. He had been detained informally under the Act and against the wishes of his carers, but the Court of Appeal decided he should have . .
Cited – Connor and others v Chief Constable of Merseyside Police CA 22-Nov-2006
The claimants appealed dismissal of their claim for damages for malicious prosecution after the obtaining of a search warrant.
Held: The appeals failed. There was no express power to use reasonable force and to temporarily those discovered in . .
Cited – ID and others v The Home Office (BAIL for Immigration Detainees intervening) CA 27-Jan-2005
The claimants sought damages and other reliefs after being wrongfully detained by immigration officers for several days, during which they had been detained at a detention centre and left locked up when it burned down, being released only by other . .
Cited – TF, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Justice CA 18-Dec-2008
The claimant had been near to completing a sentence for serious violence. He now challenged the way in which, as his sentenced approached completion, the defendant had sought an order transferring him to a secure mental hospital. He was served with . .
Cited – Lumba (WL) v Secretary of State for The Home Department SC 23-Mar-2011
The claimants had been detained under the 1971 Act, after completing sentences of imprisonment pending their return to their home countries under deportations recommended by the judges at trial, or chosen by the respondent. They challenged as . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Torts – Other
Leading Case
Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.218835
