Print Adopted 19 May 1997
(Excerpts)
Assault.
2.—(1) A person shall be guilty of the offence of assault who, without lawful excuse, intentionally or recklessly—
(a) directly or indirectly applies force to or causes an impact on the body of another, or
(b) causes another to believe on reasonable grounds that he or she is likely immediately to be subjected to any such force or impact,
without the consent of the other.
(2) Insubsection(1)(a), "force" includes—
(a) application of heat, light, electric current, noise or any other form of energy, and
(b) application of matter in solid liquid or gaseous form.
(3) No such offence is committed if the force or impact, not being intended or likely to cause injury, is in the circumstances such as is generally acceptable in the ordinary conduct of daily life and the defendant does not know or believe that it is in fact unacceptable to the other person.
(4) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,500 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.
Assault causing harm.
3.—(1) A person who assaults another causing him or her harm shall be guilty of an offence.
(2) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable—
(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to a fine not exceeding £1,500 or to both, or
(b) on conviction on indictment to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or to both.
Causing serious harm.
4.—(1) A person who intentionally or recklessly causes serious harm to another shall be guilty of an offence.
(2) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on conviction on indictment to a fine or to imprisonment for life or to both.
Threats to kill or cause serious harm.
5.—(1) A person who, without lawful excuse, makes to another a threat, by any means intending the other to believe it will be carried out, to kill or cause serious harm to that other or a third person shall be guilty of an offence.
(2) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable—
(a) on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,500 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both, or
(b) on conviction on indictment to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or to both.
Coercion.
9.—(1) A person who, with a view to compel another to abstain from doing or to do any act which that other has a lawful right to do or to abstain from doing, wrongfully and without lawful authority—
(a) uses violence to or intimidates that other person or a member of the family of the other, or
(b) injures or damages the property of that other, or
(c) persistently follows that other about from place to place, or
(d) watches or besets the premises or other place where that other resides, works or carries on business, or happens to be, or the approach to such premises or place, or
(e) follows that other with one or more other persons in a disorderly manner in or through any public place,
shall be guilty of an offence.
(2) For the purpose of this section attending at or near the premises or place where a person resides, works, carries on business or happens to be, or the approach to such premises or place, in order merely to obtain or communicate information, shall not be deemed a watching or besetting within the meaning ofsubsection(1)(d).
(3) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable—
(a) on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,500 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both, or
(b) on conviction on indictment to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or to both.
Harassment.
10.—(1) Any person who, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, by any means including by use of the telephone, harasses another by persistently following, watching, pestering, besetting or communicating with him or her, shall be guilty of an offence.
(2) For the purposes of this section a person harasses another where—
(a) he or she, by his or her acts intentionally or recklessly, seriously interferes with the other's peace and privacy or causes alarm, distress or harm to the other, and
(b) his or her acts are such that a reasonable person would realise that the acts would seriously interfere with the other's peace and privacy or cause alarm, distress or harm to the other.
(3) Where a person is guilty of an offence undersubsection(1), the court may, in addition to or as an alternative to any other penalty, order that the person shall not, for such period as the court may, specify, communicate by any means with the other person or that the person shall not approach within such distance as the court shall specify of the place of residence or employment of the other person.
(4) A person who fails to comply with the terms of an order undersubsection(3) shall be guilty of an offence.
(5) If on the evidence the court is not satisfied that the person should be convicted of an offence undersubsection(1), the court may nevertheless make an order undersubsection(3) upon an application to it in that behalf if, having regard to the evidence, the court is satisfied that it is in the interests of justice so to do.
(6) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable—
(a) on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,500 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both, or
(b) on conviction on indictment to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years or to both.
False imprisonment.
15.—(1) A person shall be guilty of the offence of false imprisonment who intentionally or recklessly—
(a) takes or detains, or
(b) causes to be taken or detained, or
(c) otherwise restricts the personal liberty of,
another without that other's consent.
(2) For the purposes of this section, a person acts without the consent of another if the person obtains the other's consent by force or threat of force, or by deception causing the other to believe that he or she is under legal compulsion to consent.
(3) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable—
(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £1,500 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both, or
(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for life.
Justifiable use of force; protection of person or property, prevention of crime, etc.
18.—(1) The use of force by a person for any of the following purposes, if only such as is reasonable in the circumstances as he or she believes them to be, does not constitute an offence—
(a) to protect himself or herself or a member of the family of that person or another from injury, assault or detention caused by a criminal act; or
(b) to protect himself or herself or (with the authority of that other) another from trespass to the person; or
(c) to protect his or her property from appropriation, destruction or damage caused by a criminal act or from trespass or infringement; or
(d) to protect property belonging to another from appropriation, destruction or damage caused by a criminal act or (with the authority of that other) from trespass or infringement; or
(e) to prevent crime or a breach of the peace.
(2) "use of force" insubsection(1) is defined and extended bysection20.
(3) For the purposes of this section an act involves a "crime" or is "criminal" although the person committing it, if charged with an offence in respect of it, would be acquitted on the ground that—
(a) he or she was under 7 years of age; or
(b) he or she acted under duress, whether by threats or of circumstances; or
(c) his or her act was involuntary; or
(d) he or she was in a state of intoxication, or
(e) he or she was insane, so as not to be responsible, according to law, for the act.
(4) The references insubsection(1) to protecting a person and property from anything include protecting the person or properly from its continuing; and the reference to preventing crime or a breach of the peace shall be similarly construed.
(5) For the purposes of this section the question whether the act against which force is used is of a kind mentioned in any of the paragraphs (a) to (e) ofsubsection(1) shall be determined according to the circumstances as the person using the force believes them to be.
(6) Notwithstandingsubsection(1), a person who believes circumstances to exist which would justify or excuse the use of force under that subsection has no defence if he or she knows that the force is used against a member of the Garda Síochána acting in the course of the member's duty or a person so assisting such member, unless he or she believes the force to be immediately necessary to prevent harm to himself or herself or another.
(7) The defence provided by this section does not apply to a person who causes conduct or a state of affairs with a view to using force to resist or terminate it:
But the defence may apply although the occasion for the use of force arises only because the person does something he or she may lawfully do, knowing that such an occasion will arise.
(8) Property shall be treated for the purposes ofsubsection(1)(c) and (d) as belonging to any person—
(a) having the custody or control of it;
(b) having in it any proprietary right or interest (not being an equitable interest arising only from an agreement to transfer or grant an interest); or
(c) having a charge on it;
and where property is subject to a trust, the persons to whom it belongs shall be treated as including any person having a right to enforce the trust.
Property of a corporation sole shall be treated for the purposes of the aforesaid provisions as belonging to the corporation notwithstanding a vacancy in the corporation.
Meaning of "use of force" and related provisions.
20.—(1) For the purposes ofsections18and19—
(a) a person uses force in relation to another person or property not only when he or she applies force to, but also where he or she causes an impact on, the body of that person or that property;
(b) a person shall be treated as using force in relation to another person if—
(i) he or she threatens that person with its use, or
(ii) he or she detains that person without actually using it; and
(c) a person shall be treated as using force in relation to property if he or she threatens a person with its use in relation to property.
(2)Sections18and19shall apply in relation to acts immediately preparatory to the use of force as they apply in relation to acts in which force is used.
(3) A threat of force may be reasonable although the actual use of force may not be.
(4) The fact that a person had an opportunity to retreat before using force shall be taken into account, in conjunction with other relevant evidence, in determining whether the use of force was reasonable.
Abolition of common law offences of assault and battery, kidnapping and false imprisonment.
28.—(1) The following common law offences are hereby abolished—
(a) assault and battery,
(b) assault occasioning actual bodily harm,
(c) kidnapping, and
(d) false imprisonment.
(2) The abolition of the common law offence of kidnapping shall not affect the operation of section 2 of, and paragraph 4 of the Schedule to, the Criminal Law (Jurisdiction) Act, 1976, and accordingly the said section 2 and the said Schedule shall have effect as ifsubsection(1)(c) had not been enacted.
Source: Irish Statute Book Database