OVERVIEW
In this topic, we are going to learn about two concepts of tord which are named false Imprisonment and Malicious prosecution, where we will see some key elements and remedies which are granted by law. Let us begin with the topic.
FALSE IMPRISONMENT
The term false imprisonment refers to a legal claim where a person is restrained and confined forcefully without his or her consent or against their will. Which is a civil wrong which means it is a tort in which a person got injured by someone forcefully and can ask for compensation for their injury.
Let us see its key elements which include,
- The person should be forcefully confined and restrained by another person without the person’s will.
- When the detention is caused without the consent of a person being restrained.
- The confinement and restraint of a person should be done with any lawful authority and justification, for eg, without any warrant.
- A person should be aware of the confinement and other causes of harm caused by it, but sometimes justification is not needed when harm is caused.
- One example of false imprisonment is Locking a person in without his consent or willingness in a room and refusing to remove him.
Remedy
- Under false imprisonment cases, a victim can sue that person and can ask for compensation for harm caused to him which can be emotional, physical, or any financial loss.
MALICIOUS PROSECUTION
The term malicious prosecution refers to the legal claim where a person is wrongfully subjected to the criminal case, and civil case too without cause and malicious intentions. It is also a civil wrong that is a tort where a wrong party is allowed to seek damages.
Let us see some of its elements which include,
- The defendant should initiate legal proceedings which can be both criminal or civil proceedings against the plaintiff.
- The initiation of a case should be without probable cause and reasonable grounds.
- The defendant should have acted in malice which had motives, and intentions like revenge, personal gain, etc.
- The proceeding of the case should be done in the favour of the plaintiff which shows that the proceeding lacked merit.
- The plaintiff should have caused damages which can be reputation, legal costs, etc.
- One example of malicious prosecution is A falsely accusing B that he had committed the crime out of personal gain, which led B to wrongful arrest and caused harm to his reputation.
Remedy
- The remedy under malicious prosecution is that the victim can take damages for the loss caused to him or her which includes, legal cost, reputation, distress, etc due to wrongful legal proceedings.
CONCLUSION
At the end of this topic, we have learned how false imprisonment deals with the confinement of an individual without his willingness, whereas malicious prosecution relates to wrongful use of the legal system for personal use which prosecutes someone with malice intention, and without probable cause. Both these concepts are serious in the law of tort which helps the victims by providing them compensation for their injury which is caused to them.
