Editing False imprisonment (section)

{{Short description|Illegal restraint of a person in a bounded area without justification or consent}}
{{Redirect|Wrongful imprisonment|wrongful punishments carried out by a judicial system|Miscarriage of justice}}
{{Globalize|article|USA|UK|date=April 2021}}
{{use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Criminal law}}

'''False imprisonment''' or '''unlawful imprisonment''' occurs when a person intentionally restricts another person's movement within any area without [[Right|legal authority]], justification, or the restrained person's permission.<ref name="wexfp">{{cite web|title=False Imprisonment |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/false_imprisonment |website=Wex |publisher=Cornell Law School|access-date=6 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107004420/https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/false_imprisonment|archive-date=2017-11-07|url-status=live}}</ref> 

Actual physical restraint is not necessary for false imprisonment to occur. A false imprisonment claim may be made based upon private acts, or upon wrongful governmental [[Detention (confinement)|detention]]. 

For detention by the police, proof of false imprisonment provides a basis to obtain a writ of [[habeas corpus]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Overview: False Imprisonment |url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095809472|website=Oxford Reference|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=6 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107043936/http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095809472|archive-date=2017-11-07|url-status=live}}</ref>

Under [[common law]], false imprisonment is both a [[crime]] and a [[tort]].