New law backs 'have a go' heroes.

By Robert Agar-Hutton

Dated: 15th July 2008 - For immediate release.

The following is part of a News Release today from the Ministry of Justice.

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New law backs 'have a go' heroes

New laws coming into force today will give homeowners and 'have-a-go-heroes' defending themselves greater confidence, Justice Secretary Jack Straw said today.

The self defence provisions of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 will make clear to the public, prosecutors and the police that those who use reasonable force to protect themselves or others should not be prosecuted. As long as they use no more force than absolutely necessary, people should have confidence that the law will support them, so long as:

• They acted instinctively;
• They feared for their safety or that of others, and acted based on their perception of the threat faced and the scale of that threat;
• They acted to effect a lawful arrest or to prevent the escape of a person lawfully detained; and
• The level of force used was not excessive or disproportionate in the circumstances as they viewed them.

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As far as I understand things, there isn't really anything new here that didn't exist in some form of Law but the fact that it is now in Statute Law (I believe that's the proper term) gives it more weight and makes the issue of defending oneself much clearer.

Obviously it is still against the law (as it should be) to use force that is obviously in excess of that required for reasonable defense.

Protectics Personal Safety System is based upon an understanding of the law however since one of its primary beliefs is that "Your safety comes first" it is possible that a defensive procedure could technically be in breech of the law. The clarification and codification in this new law is to be welcomed as it makes the position of personal defence much clearer.

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