Harassment – A Living Nightmare

 

Being engaged in any dispute can be a challenging situation to deal with, but if all or part of your dispute involved you being harassed, it can be a living nightmare. Most think harassment is solely a criminal offence; however, the civil side of the law can also be helpful.

The General Basis - What is Harassment?

Firstly, it is important to establish what Harassment is.

Harassment can take place in any setting, whether you are at home, in the workplace or even out getting your groceries.

Harassment is defined as “unwanted behaviour which you find offensive, intimidating or humiliating”.

The protection against Harassment in England and Wales comes under The Protection from Harassment Act 1997, which considers a person’s actions, and whether they ought to be aware it would amount to Harassment.

Standard of Proof

In the Criminal Courts, the standard of proof is “beyond reasonable doubt”, which is far higher than that of the Civil Courts, which is “on the balance of probabilities”. This means in the Civil Courts, you will need to show that Harassment has more likely to have been caused than not. Due to the lower standard of proof, the Civil route may well be the most appropriate route to pursue. Notwithstanding this, it is important to consider the possible defences to Harassment, these include the following:

• For the reason of detecting crime;

• Pursued under a law which required such conduct;

• The behaviour was reasonable in the circumstances.

The Remedies

Whilst the remedies are ultimately up to the Court, one approach to consider is to seek an injunction against the party harassing you. An injunction is a Court Order that either prevents or obligates someone doing something and can be a very useful tool in bringing any issues to an end. 

Harassment from Neighbours

One of the most common forms of Harassment is that suffered from neighbours. Examples could include the following:

• Parking in your designated space or on your driveway;

• Banging on the walls;

• Excessive loud noise, including music;

• Building works.

These actions may also come within the definition of ‘Nuisance’. More information about Nuisance can be found here. In our experience, Harassment and Nuisance can often be interlinked.

See our companion article on Nuisance here.

If you are looking for advice on any possible Harassment and how you could resolve the situation, please do not hesitate to contact our Dispute Resolution Team here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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