Trespass To Person

Trespass is an area of criminal or tort law broadly divided into three groups: Trespass to person, trespass to chattels and trespass to land.  Trespass to the person means direct or an intentional interference with a person’s body or liberty.  There are three main forms of trespass to a person, namely, assault, battery and false imprisonment and their  common element is that the wrong must be committed by “direct means”.  The principal use of these torts is not for recovery of compensation but to establish a right, or a recognition that the defendant acted unlawfully.  Note that these torts are actionable without proof of damage; they can be used to protect civil rights and will also protect a person’s dignity.
In Alhaji Ibrahim Abdulhamid V. Tabal Akar & Anor SC.  240/2001 the respondent used military officer to intimidate the applicant in a bid to recover the debt owed him.  In the actions that came to play in this case, the different types of trespass to person was carried out on the applicant.  The arrest of the applicant by military men led by A.D. Yahahi involved the tort of assault and battery, because he was forced to enter his car and follow the men to Air Force Base Kano.  At the Air Force Base the restriction of the applicant’s movement by detaining him in a room amounted to a tort of false imprisonment.  This is a clear case of trespass to person.
There are various forms of difference for trespass to person.  The most common one is that of Volenti non fit injuria, meaning “to a willing person, injury is not done”.  It is a common law doctrine which states that if someone willingly places themselves in a position where harm might result, knowing that some degree of harm might result, they are not able to bring a claim against the other party in tort.  A good example is consent to medical procedure of surgery.  This consent prevents the procedure from being a trespass to person.  Also, those who take part in sports also consent to a reasonable degree of physical contact during the course of play.
The powers of arrest exercisable by the police or private citizen when the need arises are contained in Section 35(1) (c) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Sections 21 of the Criminal Procedure Act.  An arrested person must be told, as soon as is practicable, that he is under arrest and the grounds for the arrest.  Private persons making an arrest must also as soon as is reasonable, hand the arrested person over to the police.  Please also note that a parent of a child may lawfully chastise or confine the child and will not be liable for any of the actions under trespass to person provided the amount of force used or the detention is reasonable in the circumstance.
Trespass can also be of necessity, in most cases in medical situations, to save lives.

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