False imprisonment

Did you know that more than 60% of the world population has been imprisoned falsely?

False imprisonment does not necessarily mean being locked up in jail for a crime you did not commit. Mere restriction of a person's freedom of movement be it in an open field, in the stocks or cage, even in the street constitutes false imprisonment so long as the person restrained is completely deprived of his liberty to move about. When a person's freedom of movement is restrained without lawful excuse or justification, there is false imprisonment.

False imprisonment can be carried out by anybody. It does not necessarily have to be a policemen. A mother locking up her child for a trivial offence, medical personnel restraining patient's movement, etc constitutes false imprisonment. You can be falsely imprisoned by a friend or even a stranger.

For a plaintiff (person whose freedom of movement was restrained) to successfully establish a case of false imprisonment, he or she needs to prove to the court that he was completely restrained and had no reasonable alternate route of escape. Example, being locked in the tenth floor of a building with an open window which is an unreasonable route of escape constitutes false imprisonment.

A person may be imprisoned without his being aware of his detainment. Thus, a man may be imprisoned while he is asleep, while he is in a state of drunkenness, while he is unconscious, or while he is a lunatic. Imprisonment is also possible even if the person is too ill to move in the absence of restraint.

In the popular case of Meering versus Graham-White Aviation Co Ltd., Mr. Meering who was an employee of Graham-White Aviation company was suspected of stealing from the Company. He was therefore requested by two of his employers' private policemen to go to company's office with them to answer some questions. He was taken to the waiting room where he stayed for a long time. Unknown to him, the two policemen stood on guard nearby, having been instructed not to let him leave the waiting room until the Metropolitan police arrived. He later sued the company for false imprisonment and succeeded. He was paid money as compensation.

If the person that effected an imprisonment is able to prove that he did so on a just cause, he will not be found guilty. Example restraining a man's movement to prevent him from injuring another.

There is no generally way of preventing yourself from being imprisoned falsely. Going to court to seek damages is a strategy that has worked and is still working it's way to reduction of false imprisonment. If you are or have ever been a victim of false imprisonment, it is time to take that bull by the horns and seek remedy. Do not let litigation erode you your right to freedom from false imprisonment.