Law Weblog

Use of force when tackling criminals – proposals from Jack Straw

Thursday 20 December 2007 at 8:33 am | In News | Post Comment

The Ministry of Justice has published measures on the use of force when tackling criminals. The statement follows up the political statement by Jack Straw at the Labour Party conference in September 2007.

The proposal is to amend the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill. They are intended to give the public confidence that the law is on their side if they act reasonably in using force, including the fact that:
– they acted instinctively;
– they feared for their safety or that of others, and acted based on their perception of the threat faced and the scale of that threat;
– the level of force used was not excessive or disproportionate in the circumstances as they viewed them.

The amendments attempt to clarify the existing common law defences and the statutory provisions under the Criminal Law Act 1967. The Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill was published in June 2007.

For more information go to http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/criminal-justice-bill.htm

Amendments will be debated in Parliament at Report Stage of the Bill on 9 January 2007. It is widely expected that the proposals will be watered down and produce little change to the existing law.