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Forcible entry is "the unlawful taking of possession of real property by force or threats of force or unlawful entry into or onto another's property, especially when accompanied by force". The term is also sometimes used for entry by military, police, or emergency personnel, also called breaching. For the fire service, forcible entry is defined by the International Fire Service Training Association (
Forcible entry is "the unlawful taking of possession of real property by force or threats of force or unlawful entry into or onto another's property, especially when accompanied by force". The term is also sometimes used for entry by military, police, or emergency personnel, also called breaching. For the fire service, forcible entry is defined by the International Fire Service Training Association (IFSTA
International Fire Service Training Association is an association of fire service personnel who are dedicated to upgrading fire fighting and other emergency response techniques and safety through training. The mission of IFSTA is to identify areas ...
) as:
Breaching doorways can be differentiated as "through the lock" or "through the door" depending on the techniques used.
England and Wales
Forcible entry was acommon law offence
Common law offences are crimes under English criminal law, the related criminal law of some Commonwealth countries, and under some U.S. State laws. They are offences under the common law, developed entirely by the law courts, having no specific ...
in England and Wales
England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...
, but was abolished, along with forcible detainer
Eviction is the removal of a tenant from rental property by the landlord. In some jurisdictions it may also involve the removal of persons from premises that were foreclosed by a mortgagee (often, the prior owners who defaulted on a mortgag ...
, by the Criminal Law Act 1977. It was replaced with a new offence of "using violence to secure entry" under section 6 of that Act.
Formerly the Forcible Entry Act 1381, chapter 2 of 15 Ric 2 (1391), the Forcible Entry Act 1429
The Forcible Entry Act 1429 (8 Hen 6 c 9) was an Act of the Parliament of the Kingdom of England. It is written in the Anglo-Norman language. It was expressed to be passed because the statute 15 Ric 2 c 2 was felt to be inadequate because it di ...
, the Forcible Entry Act 1588
The Forcible Entry Act 1588 (31 Eliz 1 c 11) was an Act of the Parliament of the Kingdom of England.
Its purpose was to prevent the avoidance of the proviso to the Forcible Entry Act 1429. It provided that no restitution was to be made on an i ...
and the Forcible Entry Act 1623
The Forcible Entry Act 1623 (21 Jac 1 c 15) was an Act of the Parliament of the Kingdom of England. It provided that any judge who already had a statutory power, on enquiry, to give restitution of possession of freehold land in respect of which ...
(repealed).
Judge Donaldson considered the question of forcible entry in the UK, in ''Swales v. Cox'' (1981):
{{quote, ... he uses force if he applies any energy to the obstacle with a view to removing it. It would follow that, if my view is correct, where there is a door which is ajar but it is insufficiently ajar for someone to go through the opening without moving the door and energy is applied to that door to make it open further, force is being used. A fortiori
''Argumentum a fortiori'' (literally "argument from the stronger eason) (, ) is a form of argumentation that draws upon existing confidence in a proposition to argue in favor of a second proposition that is held to be implicit in, and even more cer ...
force is used when the door is latched and you turn the handle from the outside and then ease the door open. Similarly, if someone opens any window or increases the opening in any window, or indeed dislodges the window by the application of any energy, he is using force to enter ...''Constitutional and administrative law'' (Pollard, Parpworth and Hughes), 2007, p.723
See also
For other crimes related to forcible entry, see: *Breaking and entering
Burglary, also called breaking and entering and sometimes housebreaking, is the act of entering a building or other areas without permission, with the intention of committing a criminal offence. Usually that offence is theft, robbery or murder ...
* Trespass
Trespass is an area of tort law broadly divided into three groups: trespass to the person, trespass to chattels, and trespass to land.
Trespass to the person historically involved six separate trespasses: threats, assault, battery, woundi ...
* Home invasion
* Vandalism
For methods used by military, police, and emergency services to enter buildings, see:
* Door breaching
References