Which term describes a situation where someone is held against their will without legal justification?

The term that describes a situation where someone is held against their will without legal justification is false imprisonment. This legal concept refers specifically to the unlawful restraint of an individual in a bounded area where the person is deprived of their freedom of movement. To qualify as false imprisonment, the act must be intentional, and the person must be aware of the detention or harmed by it.

In false imprisonment cases, it is essential that the detaining party does not have any legal authority or justification for the restraint. This could include situations where someone is physically blocked from leaving a location, restrained with physical restraints, or coerced into remaining in a certain place despite their wishes.

The other terms do not fit this definition. Assault involves an act that creates an apprehension of an imminent harmful or offensive contact, while battery requires actual physical contact. Negligence refers to harm caused by a failure to exercise reasonable care, rather than the intentional confinement that defines false imprisonment. Thus, false imprisonment is the correct term for the scenario described.