The law on self-defence will be rewritten to give citizens the confidence to intervene if they witness a crime, Jack Straw is to announce. (Man of Straw)
The Justice Secretary will revive a pledge, dropped by Tony Blair in 2005, to offer greater legal protection to those who fear they could fall foul of the authorities if they step in to help.
Mr Straw will draw on his own experiences as a 'have-a-go hero', and tell the Labour conference in Bournemouth that he has tackled criminals on four occasions - resulting in three arrests of suspects.
Mr Straw is to tell delegates: 'Enforcing the law, securing justice, is not just a matter for "them" - the courts, the prisons, the probation service, the police - but for all of us.
'How each of us reacts if we encounter a burglar or a street robber has to be a matter of individual discretion. There's a critical line between responsibility and recklessness.'
He will add: 'I know from personal experience that you have all of a millisecond to make the judgment about whether to intervene.
'In such a situation, the law on self- defence works much better than most people think but not as well as it could or should.
'The justice system must not only work on the side of people who do the right thing as good citizens but also be seen to work on their side.'
Mr Straw's personal experiences of the issue occurred between 1980 and 1996, one in his Blackburn constituency and three at Oval Tube station near his South London home.
Each time he gave chase and on three of the occasions he helped to hand the offender over to the police.
Since 1997, however, when Mr Straw became a senior Cabinet minister, he has been surrounded by armed protection officers and no longer travels by Tube.
He has ordered an urgent review that will seek to reframe existing legislation to ensure that those who try to protect themselves, their family or their home can be certain the law is on their side.
Changes could be introduced as early as next month by amending the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill before Parliament-The law says 'reasonable force' can be used in self-defence.
However, the Government has previously foiled repeated attempts by the Conservatives to protect householders unless they have used 'grossly disproportionate' force when tackling intruders.
A string of 'have-a-go heroes' have fallen foul of the law while trying to apprehend criminals.
Earlier this year, the Mail told how former traffic warden and store detective Wendy Challis- Jones carried out a citizen's arrest on a teenager who had stolen a bicycle.
When police arrived, she was arrested on suspicion of assault and locked up in a police cell for ten hours before being released without charge, despite having two previous police commendations for arresting potentially violent criminals.
The most controversial argument over the right to self-defence came in 1999, when Tony Martin was imprisoned for shooting dead a teenage burglar at his farm.
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