Lawful excuse Definition

GLOSSARY

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What does Lawful excuse mean?

To act with lawful excuse means to act with lawful justification.

For example, a police officer who has to force open and damage a door to execute a warrant of arrest. The offence of criminal damage under s 1 of the Criminal Damage Act 1971 includes the words 'without lawful excuse'. This phrase is partly defined in s 5, which provides in subs (3) that the required belief in the matters provided by that section need not be justified if the belief was honestly held.

View the related practice notes about Lawful excuse

Arson

ArsonDamage to property caused by fire is charged as arson. A person who without lawful excuse destroys or damages any property belonging to another by fire, intending to destroy or damage any such property or being reckless as to whether any such property would be destroyed or damaged, shall be guilty of the offence of arson under section 1(3) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971 (CDA 1971).For information on criminal damage, see Practice Note: Criminal damage.In R v Booth arson was not specified in the charge and the court ruled the indictment a nullity. The court revisited this issue in R v Drayton, ruling that the allegation must at least be identified as 'damage by fire' so that the defendant has no doubt that the allegation is one of fire damage, which has a more severe penalty than other simple criminal damage.Simple arson, where life is not endangered, is triable either way. Where the criminal damage forming the basis of the charge is 'significant damage by fire' then a Crown...

Criminal damage

GeneralSimple criminal damage is triable either way unless the value of the alleged damage is £5,000 or less, in which case the offence will be treated as if it were triable only summarily.Where the damage is caused by fire or the racially aggravated form of the offence is charged, then even if the value of the damage is less than £5,000 it will be triable either way. Equally, where the defendant is charged with two or more offences of the same or similar character, and the total value exceeds £5,000, the offence will be triable either way. Where the value of the damage is over £5,000, criminal damage is typically tried summarily, unless it appears to the court that one of the following aggravating features are present:•deliberate fire-raising•the offence was committed by a group•the damage is of high value, or•the offence has clear racial motivation, and the court's sentencing powers are insufficientThe Magistrates’ Court Sentencing Guidelines suggest that the Crown Court may be the appropriate venue for offences where the...

Discover our 19 Practice Notes on Lawful excuse

A landlord has served a non-hostile section 25 notice offering a tenant a new lease, but the terms of the new lease have not been agreed. The section 25 notice has now expired, the tenant remains in occupation and neither the landlord, nor the tenant has made an application court. The landlord now wants the tenant to vacate the property—what steps does the landlord need to take to regain possession of the property?

A landlord has served a non-hostile section 25 notice offering a tenant a new lease, but the terms of the new lease have not been agreed. The section 25 notice has now expired, the tenant remains in occupation and neither the landlord, nor the tenant has made an application court. The landlord now wants the tenant to vacate the property—what steps does the landlord need to take to regain possession of the property? When a landlord has served a valid section 25 notice, but neither the landlord nor the tenant have made an application for a new tenancy, the tenancy will come to an end on the date specified in the section 25 notice. After that date, the tenant has no legal right to remain in occupation of the premises; the landlord has the right of possession. A landlord should therefore take care if the tenant remains in occupation. No money should be demanded or accepted from the tenant after the termination date, nor should the landlord act in any...

If information is taken from a person’s browsing history that wasn't covered by a search order and did not relate to financial information, can it be used as evidence in other proceedings?

If information is taken from a person’s browsing history that wasn't covered by a search order and did not relate to financial information, can it be used as evidence in other proceedings? Information disclosed within financial remedy proceedings The Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010), SI 2010/2955, reg 29.12(1) provides that: ‘Except as provided by this rule or by any other rule or Practice Direction, no document filed or lodged in the court office shall be open to inspection by any person without the permission of the court, and no copy of any such document shall be taken by, or issued to, any person without such permission.’ This confidentiality covers not only documents filed within proceedings that pertain directly to the matters in issue but also to documents that were arguably irrelevant. However, while a party cannot simply disclose documents filed within financial remedy proceedings to any third party, it is open to the court to make an order for disclosure of documents filed within proceedings ‘as...

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Summary judgment and speculation—final injunction available where defendants failed to engage in proceedings (National Highways Ltd v Persons Unknown)

Dispute Resolution analysis: The Court of Appeal overturned a High Court judge’s refusal to grant summary judgment in claims for final injunctions in circumstances where the defendants had failed to engage with the proceedings by either filing defences or any evidence in opposition to the claims. The Court of Appeal criticised the first instance judge’s approach as impermissible speculation as to what defences might be advanced at trial. Written by Lauren Godfrey, barrister at Gatehouse Chambers.

Lords propose changes to Public Order Bill

The House of Lords has concluded its review of the Public Order Bill (which aims to strengthen police powers to tackle protesters) on 7 February 2023, after it began its checks on 30 January 2023. There have so far been two days of the report stage, and a third reading, to ensure that the eventual law is effective, workable and without loopholes, is scheduled for 21 February 2023.

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