McDowell makes pledge on 'reasonable' protection of homes
Homeowners must be able to protect themselves and their property from intruders but they cannot be given a James Bond-style “licence to kill”, Justice Minister Michael McDowell said tonight.
The Law Reform Commission has recommended that laws governing the use of self-defence against intruders in the home need to be tightened up.
It said in a consultation paper that there was a compelling need to set out the extent of force, including lethal force, that may be used to repel an attack.
Mr McDowell said that currently legislation must be rebalanced in favour of homeowners to use all reasonable force to defend themselves and their property.
“I’ve every confidence that when the law is rebalanced that juries will do the right thing by homeowners.
“But it is not a licence to kill and I don’t think that anybody should portray it as such. All of us have the right to use any reasonable force necessary to protect our own lives but none of us are given some kind of 007 licence to kill by the law.
“Everybody must act reasonably because everybody owes a duty to uphold the law.”
Mr McDowell said he will bring proposals to Cabinet on the issue as part of the Criminal Law Provisions Bill.
