Laura Giachardi
Laura is a busy and sought after practitioner. She practices predominantly in medical law and personal injury, including claims for psychiatric injury caused by work related stress.
Her medical law practice encompasses both clinical negligence and court of protection matters involving mental capacity issues. Laura convenes and lectures on the Masters course for Medical Negligence and Misadventure at King’s College London.
She has a particular expertise in the Illegality Defence, and worked on the Illegality Project at the Law Commission. She appeared in the Supreme Court case of Stoffel v Grondona [2020] UKSC 42.
Laura has also worked on various contract, property, trusts and probate matters as well as cases of professional negligence. She appeared in the Supreme Court case of Devani v Wells [2019] UKSC 4, concerning contractual terms and estate agent commissions.
Practice Area
Panel
- Contributing Author
1 Contributions by Laura Giachardi
PRACTICE NOTES
False Imprisonment Claims against Public Authorities: Liability, Burden of Proof, Procedures (Civil, Judicial Review, Habeas Corpus), Limitation, Vicarious Liability, and Damages (Including Aggravated/Exemplary)—A Practical Guide
Liability
Liability means the total deprivation of liberty without any lawful foundation. Such claims are commonly brought against public authorities wielding powers of detention—typically a local police force, the Secretary of State for the Home Department, or the Secretary of State for Justice. The confinement may arise through policing, immigration control, or imprisonment (including where a sentence or parole period has been miscalculated, leading to detention that is unlawful).
As Lord Bridge explained in R v Deputy Governor of Parkhurst Prison, Ex p Hague, false imprisonment comprises two elements: actual confinement and the lack of lawful authority to justify it. In Jalloh, the Supreme Court adopted a broad conception of ‘imprisonment’: being compelled by a particular person to remain in a specific place, whether by physical barriers, guards, or threats of force or legal process. In that case, curfew conditions imposed on a person facing deportation amounted to imprisonment.
False imprisonment is a strict liability tort. Accordingly, it is immaterial that a defendant genuinely believed they had the necessary...
PI & Clinical Negligence
If you expected to see yourself on this page, click here.
