Need Some Help

Caged · 14-06-2005, 12:39 AM

Could someone direct me to a website that would offewr free info about British Law.

What would be even better would be if there was a site someone knew of that would let you talk to a lawyer for free to get some quick advice.

This is for a project I'm doing and am at a loss with google. Hope you guys can help!

Flop · 14-06-2005, 12:44 AM

Maybe this will help. I only browsed the page, so I can't be completely certain that it's what you're looking for. Good luck.

Caged · 14-06-2005, 01:36 AM

kinda...I was looking for a site that would let me chat directly with someone knowlegable of British Law. probably asking too much for the internet to give up for free. Saw some on your site that cost for consultation.

Cyber-Wolf · 14-06-2005, 10:33 AM

Hope this helps.

k:

http://www.support4learning.org.uk/community/law.htm

and

www.bailii.org

Caged · 14-06-2005, 01:24 PM

maybe you guys could tell me from your overseas point of view.

Does not an owner of property have the right to defend his property if its in the process of being stolen? Why would the person get arrested in the first place for assault and battery towards the person attempting to steal his vehicle?

Fruit Pie Jones · 14-06-2005, 01:58 PM

What is this "talk to a lawyer for free" concept? Please explain. I was not aware that such a thing existed.

The Niles · 14-06-2005, 02:13 PM

From the Dutch point of view it goes like this. Yes a person does have the right to defend his property but only with reasonable force. You can detain someone who is attempting to steal your TV for instance but you cannot stab him with a kitchen knife as that is not a reasonable response to the percieved threat.
Beating someone up for trying to steal your car might sound perfectly reasonable but it is not a reasonable response as a much lower level of violence would have resulted in the thief not stealing the car.
The point is that giving someone a beating is not an appropiate response to an attempted theft. You would have been in your right to arrest him (at least in Dutch law that is possible) and restraining him from leaving until the police arrives but you may not beat him up.
That said depending how badly you beat him up I doubt you will recieve a very high sentence. Possibly only a few hours of community service or even a suspended fine.

Cyber-Wolf · 14-06-2005, 03:03 PM

In the UK we can use self defence. In law it is defined as the minimum force necessary to prevent the occurance of, or the continuation of, an offence. Self defence can also include defending your property. The amount of force you're allowed to use in these situations is defined as "reasonable and necessary": you can equal the amount of force used against you and slightly exceed it. This is all relative: it takes less force to restrain a 5' 2" slighlty built female, than it would an England Rugby forward. So beating them over the head isn't really allowed.. Tho, as far as I'm concerned, you break into my house you're taking your chances... nasty things, walls and stair cases.. :Titan:

To show self-defence you must:

1. show that you reasonably fear immediate attack.
2. show that you had no alternative avenue of escaping the attack. If you can, you must run away.
3. your response must be proportionate to the threat. If someone threatens you with a balloon, you may not respond with a knife. If your own life is not under threat you cannot threaten somebody else's life.

Caged · 14-06-2005, 08:47 PM

oh gees, Picard, I didn't do anything. I'm in the USA

k: where we can beat just about anybody up who dares try to take our stuff.

This problem pertains to a good friends of mine. I guess the one thing that really got him in trouble is the fact that the guy attempting the steal received a laceration to his face that required a number of stitches. Sure hope he makes out okay...guess the minimum he could get is 6 monthes in jail.