Legal Issues
In Scotland, wheel-clamping on private land is illegal. It was banned by the case of Black v Carmichael 1992 SCCR 709, when wheel-clamping was found to constitute extortion and theft.
In England and Wales, The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 criminalised certain wheel-clamping activity on private land without lawful authority from the 1st October 2012. This prohibits clamping in many common locations such as supermarket car parks, but clamping is not entirely banned. For example, a railway operator may clamp a vehicle under the provisions of Railway Byelaw 14(4).
Despite it being illegal for private operators to immobilise vehicles with these types of devices in Washington State, U.S.A., the practice continues.
In the Republic of Ireland, private clamping is illegal under Section 113 the Road Traffic Act 1961 as amended by the Road Traffic Act (Amendment) 1984. However, it is still extremely common as the arcane language of these provisions is beyond many.
Read more about this topic: Wheel Clamp
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