Malicious Prosecution & Property Torts

The law protects a person not only from physical harm, but from the abuse of legal process and from interference with his property.

Malicious Prosecution

Malicious prosecution is the tort of setting the criminal law in motion against another, maliciously and without reasonable cause. All five ingredients must be proved:

flowchart TD
    A["Malicious Prosecution — 5 essentials"]:::root
    A --> B["1. The defendant PROSECUTED the plaintiff"]:::leaf
    A --> C["2. The prosecution ended in the<br/>plaintiff's FAVOUR"]:::leaf
    A --> D["3. NO reasonable and probable cause"]:::leaf
    A --> E["4. The defendant acted with MALICE"]:::leaf
    A --> F["5. The plaintiff suffered DAMAGE"]:::leaf

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The burden is on the plaintiff to prove all five — notably the absence of reasonable and probable cause (a negative) and malice (an improper motive, not merely spite). Damage may be to the plaintiff’s person (liberty), reputation or property (costs of defending).

Torts Against Property

Tort	Meaning
Trespass to land	Unauthorised entry onto another’s land — actionable per se (no damage needed)
Trespass to goods	Direct interference with goods in another’s possession
Conversion	Dealing with another’s goods inconsistently with his ownership (e.g. selling, destroying, or refusing to return them)

Trespass to land is actionable without proof of damage because it protects possession itself; conversion protects ownership by treating a serious interference as if the wrongdoer had appropriated the goods.

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