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Section history

Section 339 — Wrongful restraint

As in force on 31 December 2021.

Timeline 4 versions
  1. 30 March 1987 Enacted
  2. 30 November 2008 Revised edition
  3. 31 December 2021 Revised edition
  4. 17 August 2026 Latest
Revised edition in force 31 December 2021

The text below is this provision as reproduced in the Revised Edition that came into force on this date. A revised edition consolidates the law without changing its substance, so editorial amendments — such as renumbering, updated citations and formatting — may have been made but are not shown as a redline.

339.Wrongful restraint

Whoever voluntarily obstructs any person, so as to prevent that person from proceeding in any direction in which that person has a right to proceed, is said wrongfully to restrain that person.

Exception.—The obstruction of a private way over land or water which a person in good faith believes himself to have a lawful right to obstruct, is not an offence within the meaning of this section.

Illustration

A obstructs a path along which Z has a right to pass, A not believing in good faith that he has a right to stop the path. Z is thereby prevented from passing. A wrongfully restrains Z.