Police Liability after Ancell: A Law Unto Themselves?

Abstract:     
Immunity from some forms of legal action creates a class of persons which is not subjected to law's authority to the same extent as others, thereby abrogating the principle of equal justice before the law. In the case of public authorities such as the police, however, courts have been willing to grant a limited immunity from tortious liability on the grounds that it is necessary for the authority to freely exercise its democratically conferred functions. The recent English case of Ancell v McDermot tested the limits of this immunity, and the judgment of their Lordships in the Court of Appeal has raised the spectre of total immunity from liability in negligence for the acts or omissions of on-duty police officers. It is the thesis of this note that the judgment in Ancell is problematic, both in its application of precedent and in its implications for the future of police liability.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 10

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