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The law on self-defence

Under the law you are entitled to use reasonable force to protect yourself, another person or your property, prevent crime or help to legally arrest a criminal.

The force that it is reasonable to use in any situation will depend on the circumstances and the threat you are facing. Broadly, for force to be reasonable it must be ‘necessary’ and ‘in proportion’. However, cases have established that:

claim of self-defence is allowed if you have done no more than you instinctively believe is necessary to protect yourself from attack (or to protect others or property); and in that situation you are not expected to judge precisely the measure of defensive force used.

The law recognises that in the heat of the moment, it may be hard for you to assess the level of danger you face and the amount of force necessary to protect yourself or other people.  The courts take this into account.  The police and prosecutors also take this into account when deciding whether to bring charges. They will take account of all the circumstances, including whether it is in the public interest to bring charges.

So, injuring a criminal while defending yourself or your property will not necessarily mean you will face criminal charges. But the police may have to investigate and may ask you for a statement. They may then send a report to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

The law does not allow you to retaliate against a criminal. Punishing criminals is a matter for the police and the courts, and you must not take the law into your own hands by trying to punish an offender yourself.

There have been examples of cases when householders or occupiers of private property have been prosecuted for acts of violence committed on intruders.  But these have been cases when the violence used was really extreme and excessive in the circumstances. 

The CPS and Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) have issued a short leaflet called ‘Householders and the use of force against intruders’. It deals with people’s main concerns such as ‘Does the law protect me?’, ‘What is ‘reasonable force’', ‘How will the police and CPS treat me?’.

It is available on the CPS website at:

 www.cps.gov.uk/publications/prosecution/householders.html

The Common Law

Under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 civil proceedings for injury suffered during the course of a break-in, brought by a person convicted of an imprisonable offence committed on the same occasion as the injury, may only be brought with the permission of the court. The court would give permission only if the actions were grossly disproportionate, or the defendant was not defending himself, family or property from an offence. (See section 329 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003).

The circumstances in which an occupier of property may be liable to a negligence claim by a person who has been injured while trespassing on their property are governed by the Occupiers' Liability Act 1984, which defines in statute the duty of care owed by an occupier. The Act places a duty on occupiers to prevent injury to trespassers by ordinary hazards which may be found on the premises or by hazards that have been deliberately placed there by the occupier as a means of protecting the premises against trespassers.

The 1984 Act states that the occupier owes a duty only if:  (a) he is aware or has reasonable grounds to know of the danger;  (b) he knows or has reasonable grounds to believe that the trespasser may come into the vicinity of the danger; and  (c) the risk is one against which, in all the circumstances of the case, he may reasonably be expected to offer some protection.

The duty can be discharged by taking reasonable steps to give warning of the danger or to discourage people from incurring the risk, and no duty is owed where the risk is willingly accepted by the trespasser. 

The determination of liability in individual cases is a matter for the courts, having due regard to all the circumstances of the case and the actions and standards that it is reasonable to expect from each of the parties involved.

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