Odger's English Common Law

MALICIOUS AKREST. 475
about to leave the country, and that his absence will materially
prejudice the creditor. Any abuse of this power would be
ground for an action for malicious arrest. 1 To succeed in such
an action, therefore, the plaintiff must show some falsehood,
fraud or misrepresentation of fact by the defendant in
obtaining the original order. 2
But if the defendant stated
the facts fairly and truly to the judge who granted the order,
he will not be liable, even though the order be subsequently
rescinded. 3
In other words, a mistake or an error of judgment
on the part of the judge will not render liable a defendant in
whom the plaintiff can show neither suggestio falsi nor
suppressio veri.
(iv.) False Imprisonment.—Every citizen enjoys the right
of personal liberty ; he is entitled to stay at home or walk
abroad at his pleasure without interference or restraint from
others. A violation of this right is a tort and actionable
without proof of any special damage. Any confinement or
detention for which no legal authority can be shown is a
" false imprisonment." Hence in an action of false imprison-
ment a plaintiff has only to prove the detention of his person,
and it is then for the defendant to justify his act by showing
that the detention was lawful.
First, the plaintiff must prove an imprisonment. Any
confinement, such as a forcible detention in a public street
or a private room, is an imprisonment, but a merely partial
restraint is not. 4
Thus, where two policemen prevented the
plaintiff from going on, but left him free to go back or to stay
where he was, it was held that there had been no imprisonment
and that therefore no action lay. 5
It is not necessary,
however, that there should be any actual physical restraint.
If a man threatens or declares his intention to arrest or
imprison another with a show of authority to which that
1 Skinner v. Guntonand others (1680), 1 Wms. Saund. 228 d ; Williams v. Smith
(1863), 14 C. B, N. S. 696.
2 Daniels v. Fielding (1846), 16 M. & W. 200 ; Boss v. Norman (1850), 6 Exch.
369.
5 Farley v. Banks (1855), 4 E. & B. 493 ; Tlie Quartz Bill, $c, Co. v. Eyre
(1883), 11 Q. B. D. 674.
' See Bums v. Johnston, [1917] 2 I. K. 137.
6 Bird v. Jones (1845), 7 Q. B. 742; Robinson v. Balmain New Ferry Co., [1910]
A. C. 295.