Deficiencies in Current Laws on Assault and False Imprisonment

RUNNING HEAD: TORT LAW
Tort Law

TORT LAW
Over last few years, various amendments to the current legislation have been introduced to
make the law more stringent in order to punish the wrongdoer. However, this law contains
various loopholes, which gives benefit to the other parties. This essay will define about the
deficiencies in the current laws relating to assault and false imprisonment.
An attack is any direct and intentional danger from an individual putting the plaintiff in
appropriate fear of an imminent interaction with the individual of the plaintiff, either by the
defendant or by some individual or object within the command of the prosecutor. The
punishment for assault in Australia is much lower than in other countries. In recent years,
lawyers have been calling for mandatory minimum sentences policies for one-punch attack.
The Victorian Liberal Government introduced new legislation in 2014.1 The main purpose of
this legislation was to amend the current law and insert new provisions relating to one punch
attack in crimes act and to insert into the Sentencing Act three new sections requiring a
statutory minimum sentence of ten years imprisonment for all homicide instances involving a
single punch or strike homicide in conditions of gross violence.2
Recently, it has been seen that most criminals are not properly convicted due to lack of
effective sentencing policies. Most of the criminals are only arrested but are not punished due
to lack of strict laws. In a report to the legislative assessment due in the first quarter of 2017,
Dr. Quilter said that her study on WA legislation showed 40% of prosecutions involving
males murdering their spouse or ex-partner in conditions where a record of violence and
abuse had occurred. The one-punch law led in fewer fines than convicted for homicide. Thus,
the first issue or deficiency in current law relating to assault is less sentencing policies.
The other loophole in the current legislation on assault is abuse of power, i.e. the current
legislation on assault gives police officers wide powers to arrest the culprit.3 In the case of
State of NSW v Ibbett4, police officers were held liable for assault and related offences. In this
case, police officers without authority invaded privacy and pointed a gun at the mother of the
suspect without justification. They were held liable by the court under abuse of power.
Another flaws relating to current law dealing with assault is difficulty in establishing case
under assault. As per the law, relating to assault in Australia, in past few years it has been
seen that many cases have not been reported under the said offence. In assault, the liability is
1 Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) s 4A
2 Sentencing Amendment (Coward’s Punch Manslaughter and other Matters) Act 2014
3 David Lanham, David Wood, Bronwyn Bartel and Rob Evans, Criminal Laws in Australia (Federation Press,
2006) 526
4 (2005) 65 NSWLR 168
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