p. 1936. General defences
- Michael J. AllenMichael J. AllenFormer Commissioner at the Criminal Cases Review Commission and Professor of Law at Newcastle Law School
- and Ian EdwardsIan EdwardsSenior Lecturer in Law, University of East Anglia
Abstract
Course-focused and comprehensive, the Textbook on series provides an accessible overview of the key areas on the law curriculum. This chapter discusses general defences of duress, necessity, and private defence and prevention of crime. Duress relates to the situation where a person commits an offence to avoid the greater evil of death or serious injury to himself or another threatened by a third party. Necessity relates to the situation where a person commits an offence to avoid the greater evil to himself or another, which would ensue from objective dangers arising from the circumstances in which he or that other are placed. An accused charged with a violent offence may seek to plead that he acted as he did to protect himself, or his property, or others from attack; or to prevent crime; or to effect a lawful arrest.
