Defense

In English criminal law, defense refers to actus reus and mens rea , the two positive prerequisites for criminal liability, as a third element the lack of a defense.

features

It is characteristic of the defenses of English criminal law that the freedom of defense of actus reus and mens rea is a substantive prerequisite for criminal liability, but this must also be asserted in procedural law. A striking difference compared to the legal systems of continental Europe is that the distinction between justifying and excusing grounds for exclusion is not made:

"Any attempt to categorize defenses as justifications or excuses would, in the present state of the law, be premature."

"Any attempt to divide defense objections into grounds for justification and excuse would be premature in view of the current legal status."

- Smith / Hogan : On Criminal Law

Types of defenses

The most important defenses include:

Defense of consent : ~ consent

Duress by threats : ~ coercion, 'emergency'

Necessity / Duress by circumstance : ~ Necessity due to external circumstances

Defense of mistake : ~ unavoidable error of prohibition

Self-defense or private defense: ~ self-defense, 'self-defense'

Prevention of a crime : ~ Avoiding a crime

Lawful chastisement : ~ Lawful chastisement

Defense of infancy : ~ ‚age-related immaturity '

Defense of insanity : ~ 'mental and emotional disorder'

Defense of intoxication : ~ 'intoxication'

literature

Nicola Padfield: Criminal law . 7th edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2010, ISBN 978-0-19-958204-4 .
Wolf-Dietmar Pröchel: The cases of emergency according to Anglo-American criminal law . P. Hanstein, 1975, ISBN 3-16-149294-3 .
Christoph JM Safferling: intent and guilt: subjective elements of the perpetrator in German and English criminal law . Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2008, ISBN 978-3-16-149294-5 , § 9. The concept of injustice in England.
Jens Watzek: Justification and apology in English criminal law. A structural analysis of the general criminal liability requirements from a German perspective . Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law, 1997, ISBN 3-86113-957-X ( mpicc.de ).

Individual evidence

↑ Christoph JM Safferling: intent and guilt: Subjective elements of the perpetrator in German and English criminal law . Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2008, ISBN 978-3-16-149294-5 , p. 293 f .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Volker Helmert: The concept of criminal offenses in Europe . Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2011, p. 120 .

[1] Christoph JM Safferling: intent and guilt: Subjective elements of the perpetrator in German and English criminal law . Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2008, ISBN 978-3-16-149294-5 , p. 293 f .

[helmert120-2] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Volker Helmert: The concept of criminal offenses in Europe . Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2011, p. 120 .