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Suing the Police

If you want to sue someone, you can do so only for certain reasons - what are legally called 'causes of action'. When you take proceedings against someone, you have to show that what happened to you fits into one of these causes of action. If you can't, you won't be able to take proceedings against the police. For example, if a police officer carried out a legal search of you on the street but was offensive and abusive during that search, you would not be able to sue the police, because that would not fit with one of the causes of action. However, you could make a complaint against the police officer.

Also, you can take proceedings against the police only for what they have done to you personally. So you can't sue the police if, for example, you see them assaulting someone else. Only the person who was assaulted can do this. Many of the causes of action in this site can be used in cases that don't involve the police. For example, if you are forced to stay in hospital and the doctors don't have a legal reason for keeping you there, you would be able to sue the hospital or the doctors for false imprisonment. In the same way, you could also sue them for assault if they gave you treatment without your permission. Here are the seven main courses of action against the police.

If you read them and think that your complaint might be one that you could sue the police for, you will need expert advice to be sure about whether you would be able to do so. The law relating to police powers is complicated and you should get advice from a lawyer who specializes in cases against the police.

.: When you can sue the police:-

.: Assault......

An assault (which is sometimes called battery) happens when someone touches you or uses violence against you when the law doesn't allow it. It also happens when someone makes you fear that they are about to assault you. It is not always against the law to touch someone, of course, for example, if you are walking along a crowded pavement or traveling in a crowded train and you brush against them. The rules on assault apply in the same way to the police as they do to anyone else. The police are allowed to use force in certain situations. These are:-

To protect someone from a criminal offence.
To prevent a criminal offence from being committed.
To carry out a lawful arrest.
To prevent a breach of the peace; and
To carry out various powers under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, as long as using force is necessary and reasonable.

Even when the police are allowed to use force, it is assault if they use more force than is reasonable in the circumstances. So if you were legally arrested, but then restrained by the police in an excessive way or for longer than they needed to, you could bring a claim against the police for assault. When searching you can be an assault If the police search you, you can bring a claim for assault if they do this when:

They don't have the power to search you; or
They don't give a reason for searching you. The police are allowed to search you on the street when they have a good reason to believe that you have:
- Items on you that are stolen.
- Items on you that could be used to steal, commit a burglary, take a car or 'commit a deception'.
- A weapon on you; or
- Drugs on you.

If you are stopped and searched by the police on the street, you may also have a claim against them for false imprisonment if you are stopped and held for more than a few minutes without a good reason. If the police have arrested you, they are allowed to search you:

If they have a good reason to believe you may be a danger to yourself or to someone else.
To check whether you have something on you that will help you to escape.
To check whether you have anything on you that may be evidence of a crime; or
If they need to check what belongings you have on you at a police station.

Special rules apply to strip searches. The police don't usually touch you in the course of a strip search. Legally, though, it isn't clear whether you can bring a claim for assault if you are given a strip search:

When the police don't have the power to give you one; or
When they don't follow the correct procedures.
.: False Imprisonment......

You can bring a claim against the police for false imprisonment if they detain you when the law doesn't allow them to. This can cover if you are arrested, as well as other situations. This could be, for example, if:-

The police stop you in the street and make it clear that you cannot leave (for more than a few minutes); or
You have gone voluntarily to the police station and decide to leave, but the police won't let you go.

If the police arrest or detain you, they have to be able to show that the law allows them to do this.

.: When an arrest can be false imprisonment.

The law says there are two types of offence.

Arrestable offenses, which are the more serious type and include theft, taking a car without the owner's permission, and 'affray' (fighting or rioting).
Offenses you can't be arrested for, which include most driving offenses.

The police can arrest you if they have a good reason to think that you:-

Are committing an arrestable offence.
Are about to commit an arrestable offence; or
Are guilty of an arrestable offence.

The police can arrest you for a non-arrestable offence only if they have a good reason to think you have committed an offence, and one of a number of conditions apply. These conditions include:

They don't know your name and can't easily find it out;
They have a good reason to think that the name you have given is false;
You haven't given an address which is good enough to send a summons to; or
They have good reason to think that the address that you've given is false.

When a court decides if a police officer had good reason to think something, it will look at whether:-

The police officer genuinely thought it; and
Because of what they knew at the time, it was reasonable for them to think it.

.: The police can also arrest you:-

To stop a breach of the peace; or
When they think a breach of the peace is about to happen.

Finally, the police can arrest you if a court has issued an arrest warrant for you. If a police officer arrests you and you are the wrong person, you can claim against them for false imprisonment. But the police are not responsible if you were arrested because the court that issued the warrant made a mistake. In this case, you may have a claim against the court. If you are arrested, the police have to tell you the reason for the arrest. If they can't do this immediately, perhaps because you are violent, they have to do it as soon as reasonably possible. If the police do not tell you why you have been arrested, the arrest is illegal. It will become legal as soon as the police tell you why you have been arrested.

.: When you can't legally be detained after being arrested.

If you have been legally arrested, your arrest can become illegal if:-