06. How to sue the police

If you have read about the 'causes of action' and you think you have a reason to sue the police, there are several other things you need to know before you can consider taking legal action.

You should try to start a claim as quickly as you can, while events are still fresh in your memory (and in any witnesses' memories). However, there are time limits for bringing a case, depending on the type of case.

Generally, you should try to give the police at least three months' notice that you plan to start a case against them, unless doing this would put you outside one of the time limits below.

• If you are bringing a claim against the police for racial discrimination, you should start your action within six months of when you first knew about the problem. (If you are employed by the police and your claim relates to your employment, the time limit is three months.)
• If your case is under the Human Rights Act, the time limit will depend on the type of action you are taking. If you are applying for 'judicial review' (where you ask a judge to decide whether the police have acted illegally), you should start your case, at the latest within three months of when you knew about the problem. Otherwise, the time limit is one year.
• If you are claiming compensation from the police for negligently injuring you, you have to start court proceedings within three years of the day you were injured. In theory, if you say that the injury was caused deliberately, you have six years, but to be on the safe side you should start court proceedings within three years.
• For all other cases, you have to start court proceedings within six years. If your claim is for malicious prosecution, the six years will run from the day you won your original case.

Who do I sue?
You would normally sue the Chief Constable of the police force of the officer you think was responsible, because they will have the money to pay you any compensation if you win your case. However, you could sue the police officer if you wanted to.

Who will decide on my case?
If your claim is for false imprisonment or malicious prosecution, you have the right to have your case decided by a jury, unless the jury would have to study a lot of documents as part of the evidence. You or your solicitor must ask for a jury trial at the correct time. Other cases are decided by a judge.

How much compensation can I expect to win?
In a case decided by a jury, the jury decides how much compensation you should get, although the judge will give them guidance on how much it should be. In other cases, the judge decides.

It is not easy to predict how much compensation you will win. Each case is different and the judge's or jury's decision will depend on the evidence they have heard. However, the Court of Appeal has given some idea of how much compensation you should get in false imprisonment and malicious prosecution claims.

• For false imprisonment, you should expect to get at least £500. If you are falsely imprisoned for 24 hours, the amount should be £3,000.
• For malicious prosecution, you should expect to get at least £2,000. If the prosecution goes on for two years, the amount should be £10,000.

If the circumstances of your case are particularly bad, a judge or jury can award 'aggravated damages' on top of the basic compensation. They may do this if:

• the circumstances of your arrest were especially humiliating; or
• the police were insulting or offensive to you.

Aggravated damages should be at least an extra £1,000, but they shouldn't usually be more than twice the basic compensation.

In some cases a judge or jury may award 'exemplary damages'. These are meant to punish the police when they have behaved very badly. For example, this would be if they:

• lied when they gave evidence; or
• subjected you to racist or sexist abuse.

Exemplary damages should be at least £5,000, but no more than £50,000. When you add together basic, aggravated and exemplary damages, the total should not be more than three times the basic compensation.

You won't always get compensation if your claim is under the Human Rights Act.