This chapter begins with a discussion of the meaning of intentional interference. It then considers assault, battery, false imprisonment, and residuary trespass and harassment. Intentional physical interference with the person may occur by way of an act that threatens violence (assault), amounts to unlawful contact (battery), or constitutes the deprivation of liberty (false imprisonment). There is, in addition, a residuary and uncertain form of liability for the intentional infliction of physical harm, known as the rule in Wilkinson v. Downton. These torts are normally actionable without proof of damage and they also involve a sharp distinction being drawn between an act and an omission: the latter will not normally suffice to ground liability.
Chapter
9. Intentional Interference
Chapter
2. Intentional Interference with the Person
Donal Nolan and Ken Oliphant
This chapter begins with a general section considering the historical background of civil wrongs now classified as intentional interference with the person, along with the relationship between trespass and fault and the meaning of ‘intention’. The remainder of the chapter deals first with the component elements of trespass to the person, namely the torts of assault, battery and false imprisonment, followed by a discussion of the tort of intentional infliction of physical or emotional harm and the statutory cause of action for harassment. The final section deals with the four main defences to the torts discussed in the chapter—lawful arrest and detention, consent, necessity and self-defence.
