Entick v Carrington
Entick v Carrington | |
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Howell's State Trials 1029; 95 ER 807 | |
Court membership | |
Judge(s) sitting | Lord Camden, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas |
Case opinions | |
Camden CJ |
Entick v Carrington [1765] EWHC KB J98 is a leading case in
Facts
On 11 November 1762, the King's Chief Messenger, Nathan Carrington, and three other King's messengers, James Watson, Thomas Ardran, and Robert Blackmore, broke into the home of the
Entick sued the messengers for trespassing on his land.
Judgment
The trial took place in
The great end, for which men entered into society, was to secure their property.[6] That right is preserved sacred and incommunicable in all instances, where it has not been taken away or abridged by some public law for the good of the whole. The cases where this right of property is set aside by private law, are various. Distresses, executions, forfeitures, taxes etc are all of this description; wherein every man by common consent gives up that right, for the sake of justice and the general good. By the laws of England, every invasion of private property, be it ever so minute, is a trespass. No man can set his foot upon my ground without my licence, but he is liable to an action, though the damage be nothing; which is proved by every declaration in trespass, where the defendant is called upon to answer for bruising the grass and even treading upon the soil. If he admits the fact, he is bound to show by way of justification, that some positive law has empowered or excused him. The justification is submitted by the judges, who are to look into the books; and if such a justification can be maintained by the text of the statute law, or by the principles of common law. If no excuse can be found or produced, the silence of the books is an authority against the defendant, and the plaintiff must have judgment.[7]
Hence Lord Camden ruled, as later became viewed as a general principle, that the state may do nothing but that which is expressly authorised by law, while the individual may do anything but that which is forbidden by law.
Significance
The judgment established the limits of executive power in English law: the state may act lawfully only in a manner prescribed by statute or common law.[8]
It was also part of the background to the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and was described by the Supreme Court of the United States as "a 'great judgment', 'one of the landmarks of English liberty', 'one of the permanent monuments of the British Constitution', and a guide to an understanding of what the Framers meant in writing the Fourth Amendment".[9][10]
Notes
- Howell's State Trials 1029; 95 ER807
- ^ 19 St. Tr. 1029, 1006
- ^ 2 Wils. 275, 291; 95 E. R. 807, 817.
- ^ As reported in Howell's State Trials.[2] Lord Camden's words as recorded in Mr. Serjeant Wilson's Reports were "If this is law it would be found in our books, but no such law ever existed in this country."[3]
- ^ UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
- ^ This is an obvious reference to John Locke, Two Treatises of Government (1689) Ch XI, §§134–135
- ^ "Entick v. Carrington". 19 Howell’s State Trials 1029 (1765). United States: Constitution Society. Archived from the original on 21 October 2003. Retrieved 13 November 2008.
- ^ The judgment was later applied in A v Hayden ("ASIS case") [1984] HCA 67, High Court (Australia) to extend the principle within the Australian common law jurisdiction.
- ^ Kilman, Johnny and George Costello (Eds) (2006). "The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation". GPO. pp. 1281–1282. Archived from the original on 11 December 2008.
- ^ Boyd v. United States 116 U.S. 616, 626 (1886)
References
- Cuddihy, William; Hardy, B. Carmon (1980). "A Man's House Was Not His Castle: Origins of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution". William and Mary Quarterly. 37 (3). Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture: 372–400. JSTOR 1923809.