Criminals could sue their victims!?!?!?!?
Is this headed our way in the future?
So if I break into your home and steal your stuff you cannot harm me as long as I am leaving (even if you catch me in the act) and if you do "protect" yourself I may be able to sue you!
This is STUPID!!! Break into my house, you will not have the chance to sue me!
I'm glad I don't live over there.
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CRIMINALS could find it easier to sue members of the public who injure them while defending their homes, under Law Commission reforms proposed yesterday.
The moves could have a significant impact on cases such as that of Tony Martin, the Norfolk farmer who shot dead Fred Barras, a 16-year-old burglar, in his farmhouse two years ago.
Mr Barras’s family have applied for compensation from the Government’s Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority but would be unlikely to win a civil claim.
Yesterday’s consultation paper from the Government’s law reform body argues that the law is unclear on what is called the “illegality defence”. That defence is used by people who face claims from someone involved in illegal activity.
A householder defending his property might face a claim from a burglar he injures and use the defence that the burglar was acting illegally to resist the claim.
But the commission says the defence is “insufficiently flexible” and there is sometimes no clear rationale as to why claims are allowed or rejected. “We don’t think it’s right for the courts to be using this as a way of punishing someone a second time,” Professor Hugh Beale, a Law Commissioner, said.
“To reject someone’s claim for compensation when they have been injured is a serious matter and should not be considered lightly.”
The proposed reforms could also affect claims against the police and other bodies such as local councils.
The recommendations are open for consultation until the autumn when a final report is made to Parliament.