Self Defence

8 MAY 2025 14:30

Self-defence is the most well-known/widely used defence when someone is accused of a violent crime. However, few people know what this means in legal terms. It entails the use of force to defend property, prevent crime or to defend yourself and/or others. Although it can apply to many offences the main offences in which it is used are offences against the person and homicides.

For there to be a successful defence of self-defence it must be shown that the actions taken to defend yourself were reasonable and proportionate given the circumstances.

S76 of the Criminal and Justice Act 2008 sets out how to test for self-defence. For the court to be satisfied that a use of force was lawful self-defence they must answer two questions:

1) Was the use of force necessary in the circumstances as the defendant believed them to be?

2) Was the force used reasonable in the circumstances?

The courts have indicated that both questions are to be answered on the basis of the facts as the accused honestly believed them to be. 

These questions are a subjective test asking what the offender truly believed at the time. There is also an objective part of the test. S76 goes on to say that if the offender was mistaken in their belief they will they assess whether the wrong belief was genuine and honest, they will then decide how reasonable the mistaken belief was. The more reasonable the mistaken belief  the more likely the court will believe it was an honestly held belief. 

It is for the prosecution to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the force was used not carried out in self-defence
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