Lawyer description
In most litigation under the common
law adversarial system the defendant, perhaps with the
assistance of counsel, may allege or present defenses
(or defences) in order to avoid liability, civil or
criminal.
In criminal law these defenses can be grouped into 4
categories:
Actual innocence;
Excuses and Justifications;
Procedural defenses, and the so-called
"Innovative defenses."
With the exception of actual innocence and automatism,
these defenses do not argue that the defendant did not
commit an actus reus (Latin for "guilty act" but the
term includes both acts and omissions) which broke the
law; but rather, that the defendant should not be held
culpable for what occurred.
Note that there is also defense against an attacker, see
self defense and defense of others, defense of property.
Civil law defenses
In common law civil practice affirmative defenses are
presented to limit or avoid liability, they are numerous
and include:
Lack of personal or subject matter jurisdiction of the
court
Failure to state a cause of action or other
insufficiencies of pleading
Statute of limitations, statute of frauds and other
defenses conferred by statute
Defense against an attacker
Note that apart from this defense against prosecution
and liability, there is also defense against an
attacker, which can be a legal justification, see self
defense and defense of others, defense of property. |
