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False Imprisonment: Shaun Star, Assistant Professor & Assistant Dean, Jindal Global Law School

1) The document discusses the tort of false imprisonment, including its elements and key cases. 2) False imprisonment involves the intentional and total restraint of a plaintiff's liberty without lawful justification. Physical restraint is not required. 3) The restraint must deprive the plaintiff of freedom of movement, not just obstruct movement in one direction. A reasonable means of escape prevents total restraint. 4) Justification, such as legal authority or parental discipline, is a defense. Damages include nominal, ordinary, aggravated, and exemplary awards.

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Rishav Sen
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63 views17 pages

False Imprisonment: Shaun Star, Assistant Professor & Assistant Dean, Jindal Global Law School

1) The document discusses the tort of false imprisonment, including its elements and key cases. 2) False imprisonment involves the intentional and total restraint of a plaintiff's liberty without lawful justification. Physical restraint is not required. 3) The restraint must deprive the plaintiff of freedom of movement, not just obstruct movement in one direction. A reasonable means of escape prevents total restraint. 4) Justification, such as legal authority or parental discipline, is a defense. Damages include nominal, ordinary, aggravated, and exemplary awards.

Uploaded by

Rishav Sen
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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False Imprisonment

Shaun Star, Assistant Professor &


Assistant Dean, Jindal Global Law School
@shaunjstar sstar@jgu.edu.in
Introduction
• “False imprisonment” means putting a restraint on P’s
freedom of movement.
• Physical restraint need not be effected by D himself
personally. It could be the result of D’s conduct, e.g.
D asking his servant or agent to lock the room where P
happens to be.

The Law of Torts and Consumer Protection - Professor Shaun Star


Elements of False Imprisonment
• An intentional act
• Directly causing
• Total restraint of the Plaintiff’s liberty
• (without lawful justification)

The Law of Torts and Consumer Protection - Professor Shaun Star


False Imprisonment and ‘directness’
• Dickenson v Waters Ltd (1931)
• Garikipati v. Araza Biksham, 1978

• Causing false imprisonment by actions or words?


• Harnett v Bond

The Law of Torts and Consumer Protection - Professor Shaun Star


Meaning of restraint
• The restraint must be ‘total’
• Where D prevents P from moving in one direction but
leaves him free to move in any other directions there
is no total restraint. This is only a partial obstruction
of P’s will: Bird v Jones (1845)
• Patterson J: “I cannot bring my mind to the conclusion
that, if one may merely obstruct the passage of another
in a particular direction … he can be said thereby to
imprison him.”

The Law of Torts and Consumer Protection - Professor Shaun Star


The Law of Torts and Consumer Protection - Professor Shaun Star
Meaning of total restraint
• P’s movements must be totally under D’s control and
against P’s will.
• Restraints can take many forms; it may be visible and
tangible or otherwise. Confinement within physical barriers
is a clear example of false imprisonment, e.g., confinement
within a room, in a car, train or boat or plane.
• But physical barriers as such are not essential. P can be
falsely imprisoned by being psychologically restrained, i.e.,
where P does not leave because of fear of consequences
that could befall on him.

The Law of Torts and Consumer Protection - Professor Shaun Star


Reasonable means of escape
• P cannot be said to be totally restrained if there exists
reasonable means of escape exist for P:
• Robinson v Balmain New Ferry Co Ltd (1910).
• What if a person agrees to be at a place for a period of
time and then wants to leave the place in breach of his
contractual obligation?

The Law of Torts and Consumer Protection - Professor Shaun Star


The Law of Torts and Consumer Protection - Professor Shaun Star
Reasonable means of escape
• D can hold P to contractual conditions and refuse to assist
him in breach of his contractual obligations and escape if it
is reasonable to do so in the circumstances
• Sometimes it may be reasonable to hold P to the conditions
he has accepted: Herd v Weardale Steel, Coal and Coke
Co Ltd (1915); Robinson v Balmain New Ferry Co Ltd
(1910).
• If D’s conduct is unreasonable in the circumstances then P
can sue for false imprisonment.
• However, the basic principle of law is that if a person
breaches his contractual obligation, the innocent party
cannot take the law into his own hands; his only remedy is
to sue the guilty party for the breach of the contract.

The Law of Torts and Consumer Protection - Professor Shaun Star


The Law of Torts and Consumer Protection - Professor Shaun Star
Use of force & knowledge of imprisonment
• Neither the use of force nor any direct physical contact is
necessary to make D liable
• P’s present knowledge of his confinement is not an essential
requirement for making D liable although P’s damages
would be reduced. Someone who lacks mental capacity,
e.g., can be falsely imprisoned.
• Meering v Grahame-White Aviation Co (1999)

The Law of Torts and Consumer Protection - Professor Shaun Star


Justification as a defence
• Justification is a defence to an action in trespass to the
person, including false imprisonment. In several situations
e.g., where D was acting in the exercise of parental or
quasi parental authority (a teacher may have power to
reasonably discipline and restrain young students) or under
the authority of the law (prison authorities can keep
prisoners locked in a cell).
• R v Governor of Brockhill Prison, ex parte Evans (No 2) (2000)
• John Lewis & Co. v Tims

The Law of Torts and Consumer Protection - Professor Shaun Star


Damages
• Assault, battery and false imprisonment, as noted before,
are actionable per se without proof of any damage.
• Nominal damages: where no actual injury or damage has
been caused
• Ordinary damages: where actual physical injury or
damage has been caused, damages may be awarded for P’s
injury to feelings, indignity or for discomfort or
inconvenience.
• Aggravated damages: for unusual hurt (eg in the case of
rape) or high-handed aggressive and oppressive conduct
(William Alan Terrence Crawley v Attorney General)

The Law of Torts and Consumer Protection - Professor Shaun Star


Damages
 Exemplary damages
 Broadly speaking, exemplary damages may be awarded in
three circumstances:
1. First, where D, a government employee, acts in an
arbitrary or unconstitutional manner.
2. Second, where D intends to make a profit by
committing the tort.
3. Third, where it is expressly authorised by statute.

The Law of Torts and Consumer Protection - Professor Shaun Star


Problem Question
Simon and some of his friends entered 'Liquor-world' to buy a few bottles of
alcohol. Simon was wearing shabby clothes and dark sunglasses. Perhaps because
of his bedraggled appearance, the shopkeeper called the security guards over the
radio and reported Simon as a suspected thief.
When the guards arrived, one of Simon’s friends, Gagan, pushed passed the guards
and ran off to avoid getting into trouble. While one guard gave chase, he could
not catch him. Following this, the guards ushered Simon into the storeroom and
told him that they had to ask him a few questions.
While in the storeroom, Simon was thoroughly searched by the guards. They did
not find any stolen goods with Simon. However, they said that they believed Simon
and his friends had stolen a few bottles of wine previously and that they would
hand him over to the police. The police were called and Simon was asked to wait
in the storeroom for an hour until they arrived. One of the guards, the larger of
the two, stayed with Simon in the room to ensure he did not escape.
An hour later, when the police came, they released Simon as there was no
evidence against him.
Advise all parties as to possible intentional torts that may arise in the given
scenario.
Thank you
@shaunjstar sstar@jgu.edu.in

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