Downing Street Says » Police bail ruling

» Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Police bail ruling

Asked for the Government’s response to the court ruling restricting the use of bail in England and Wales, the PMS said the Government would look to see whether it could appeal the decision and whether it was necessary to introduce legislation to deal with the issue. He added that this was a long standing convention 25 year years of police practice. He added we didn’t want anything to inhibit the police in doing their job to protect the public so we would be looking at the implications of this ruling.

Asked how much force anyone is allowed to use against a burglar, the PMS said that was a legal question. He added that people were allowed to use reasonable force to protect themselves in self defence as set out in statute law. There was, however, a separate issue about whether you could use reasonable force to protect property, for which is there is a common law position but nothing set out in statute. He added that we were looking to clarify this situation and we would come forward with detailed proposals shortly.

Asked what No 10 thought of the Justice Secretary’s comments on this issue, the PMS said he believed Ken Clarke was trying to bring the point alive, but ultimately the courts would take into account the context of the situation.

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