Battery is the criminal offense of unlawful physical contact with another person with intent to cause harm. It can be a misdemeanor or felony depending on circumstances. To prove battery, the prosecution must show: 1) unlawful force was applied to the victim without consent, 2) the act was done to another person, and 3) the act caused harmful or offensive contact with intent or recklessness. Resisting arrest and obstructing a police officer in their duties are also offenses. Resisting arrest involves fleeing, threatening, or struggling with an officer during an arrest. The officer must be lawfully executing their duties for obstruction to apply. Self-defense or an unlawful arrest are defenses against resisting arrest charges.

2. Definition
 Battery is the criminal offence whereby
one party makes unlawful physical
contact with another party with the
intention to cause harm.

3.  Under common law the offence of
battery was considered a misdemeanor
but there are special circumstances
where this offence would be considered
as a felony. Such circumstances would
include agrevated battery whereby there
is use of a weapon for example.

4. Elements of the offence of
battery
 The prosecution in this case would have
to prove the following elements beyond
reasonable doubt;
 1. Unlawful/Unauthorised application of
force
The force need not be severe, even minimal
application of force or contact will satisfy the
requirement. Also, the victim must not have
consented to the act, such consent negates
this element.

5.  2. must be done to another person
 3. the act must result in harmful or offensive
contact.
This requirement may be substituted with the
statement; actual bodily harm
R V Miller; (case of rape during separation that
was covered by marital consent) court charged
defendant with assault and battery defining
actual bodily harm as; “any hurt or injury
calculated to interfere with health or comfort of
the victim”

6.  4. the mens rea required is intention or
recklessness
R v Woolin [1998] ; defined intent in criminal
law
R v Venna [1975] ; recklessness is suffient
when coupled with the actus reus of physical
contact to bring about liability

7.  The closest refference to battery in the
Penal Code is under s251;
Any person who commits an assault
occasioning actual bodily harm is guilty
of a misdemeanour and is liable to
imprisonment for five years.

8. Assaults on persons Protecting
a wreck
 S252 of the Penal Code ;
Any person who assaults and strikes or
wounds any magistrate, officer or other
person lawfully authorized in or on account
of the execution of his duty in or
concerning the preservation of any vessel
in distress, or of any vessel or goods or
effects wrecked, stranded or cast on shore,
or lying under water, is guilty of a
misdemeanour and is liable to
imprisonment for seven years.

11. 1)Officer must be on duty
 S 253(a) of the Penal Code it is a
serious offence to assault a police officer
who is executing his duty.
 S 253(b) it is an offence to resist a lawful
arrest.
 These sections cover persons acting in
aid of policemen.

12.  They however do not apply to officers off
duty
 Rex v Wakaba s/o Waithaka
 Rex v Nganga s/o Kanja and another

13. 2)Knowledge that Officer is on
Duty is irrelevant
 In the case of assault on a policeman
while on duty, the fact that the person
committing the act did not know that
they were policemen and were
executing their duty is immaterial
 Assaulting a police officer is a crime and
if done the person cannot escape
criminal liability just because they did
not know the assaulted is a police officer
in the course of duty (Section 253 b)

14. Waera s/o Madoya and others
V Republic
Facts: Police constable and police driver in normal
clothes were accompanied by two civilians and
they entered the house belonging to one of the
appellants looking for a stolen bicycle and they
found it and when they found it they saw a radio
which they were also interested in. Appellant
became suspicious and raised an alarm since he
thought the police were masquerading as a police
party. Other appellants came and attacked the
police. Constable escaped, others were tied up and
taken to a police post. Appellants were later
arrested for assaulting police and convicted

15.  The conviction was quashed since the
appellants honestly believed the police were
masquerading as a police party for
unlawful purposes
 Therefore if there are honest reasonable
grounds to believe that the person assaulted
was not a police, the person cannot be
convicted due to the defence of mistake of
fact

17. THE DEFINITION
Obstruction is the act of taking action in
order to prevent something from
happening.
 Section 253 (b) of the Penal Code: it is
an offence to obstruct a police officer in
the due execution of his duties
 Section 108 of the Kenya Defence
Forces Act states that it is an offence to
obstruct a police officer

18. The following are seen as examples of
obstruction;
1. Resisting arrest
2. Running and hiding from a law
enforcement officer.

19.  The crime of obstruction can be a felony
or misdemeanor.
 It depends on the severity of the actions
of the person being arrested.

20. ELEMENTS OF
OBSTRUCTION
A. The defendant intentionally resisted or
obstructed a law enforcement officer.
However, the person need not have
intended the result or harm.
B. The defendant acted violently toward the
officer or threatened to act violently e.g.
striking or pushing
C. The law enforcement officer was lawfully
discharging his official duties e.g.
investigating a crime or making a traffic
stop

21. THE OFFICER MUST BE
EXECUTING DUTY
 The offence of obstruction is only
established if the officer was in the
process of executing the duties. see
Marijani v Uganda (1967) EA 111 ( sir
Udo Udoma CJ)
 Lai v Republic (1970) EA 257
 Isaac s/o Reuben v The Queen (1953-
57) 2 TLR

22. DEFENCES TO THE
OFFENCE
 Self-defense. If the arresting officer acts
violently and is no justified in doing so,
the arrestee may protect himself and
resist arrest
 Unlawful arrest. This is an arrest that is
not authorized by law, such as an arrest
without a warrant or probable cause.

23. Resisting Arrest
DEFINITION
 Resisting arrest occurs when a person
interferes with a law enforcement officer’s
attempt to perform a lawful arrest.
Who can be said to resist arrest?
 Section 253(b) Penal code any person who
assaults, resists or wilfully obstructs any
police officer in due execution of his duty,
or any person acting in aid of that officer.

24. What does resisting arrest
constitute?
 It includes the following acts:
I) Fleeing a police officer while being
arrested
II) Threatening a police officer while being
arrested
III) Physically struggling to get out from
being arrested
IV) Attacking a police officer while being
arrested

25. Lui v Republic
 The appellant refused to leave the dock when ordered
to do so by the court. He resisted removal and created a
disturbance which interrupted court business. He was
convicted of other things including resisting arrest.
 On appeal the conviction relating to resisting arrest was
quashed.
 Held :The appellant was at the material time in custody,
and he had been remanded in custody. He did not seek
to escape from custody, all he did was refuse to leave
the court and force had to be used to remove him while
in custody from one place to another. His conduct could
not be described as resisting arrest.

26. Paulo s/o Busondo and another
v Reginam
 Where an accused person is charged
with acts intended to prevent arrest he
may be convicted of the offence of
wilfully obstructing a police officer in
execution of his duty.
 Reason :The cognate element between
the two offences is the intention to resist
lawful arrest and the latter is a minor
offence of the former.

27. Note
 Section 21(2) CPC if a suspect resists
arrest the police officer may use all means
necessary to effect the arrest.
 If one is not forcibly resisting arrest, the
force used by the police to arrest the
suspect will be different with when
arresting a suspect trying to evade arrest.
 Reasonable force is measured against the
kind of resistance that a person is
demonstrating against the police.