Professional paper
USE-OF-FORCE RESTRICTIONS IN PERFORMING PRIVATE PROTECTION DUTIES
Dražen Škrtić
; PU karlovačka, Trg hrvatskih redarstvenika 6, 47000 Karlovac, Hrvatska
Abstract
Restrictions governing the use of force are a fundamental part of every law which prescribes use of force in performing a particular service or job. Restrictions on the use of force in performing particular services or jobs specify the range of circumstances in which force may be used, limit the instances for use of firearms or other instruments and specify the use of lethal force. Use of force in performing private protection duties is set out in the Private Protection Act and the Violence Prevention at Sporting Events Act. Our descriptive analysis included the Protection of Persons and Property Act, the Private Protection Act, the Regulations on the Conditions and Modes of Implementation of Physical Protection, and the Violence Prevention at Sporting Events Act, with special emphasis on the provisions governing the use of force and use-of-force restrictions. Security guards are permitted to use force only if it does not cause harmful consequences greater than those that would occur had there been no such authorized use of force. Adopting a comparative approach, the Private Protection Acts of Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina have also been used as references. The paper points to certain shortcomings found in the Private Protection Act. These, in particular, refer to the lack of set limits for the use of force, the non-existence of by-laws and the inconsistencies of terminology used in the Private Protection Act. The author suggests that use of force in performing private protection duties be formulated to mirror the general legal provisions governing the state of necessity and extreme emergency.
Keywords
security; watchmen; guards; restrictions on use of force
Hrčak ID:
50307
URI
Publication date:
6.4.2010.
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