p. 35910. General defences
- David OrmerodDavid OrmerodProfessor of Criminal Justice, University College London, Barrister, Bencher of Middle Temple, Door Tenant at Red Lion Chambers
- , and Karl LairdKarl LairdStipendiary Lecturer and Tutor in Law, St Edmund Hall, Oxford, Barrister, 6KBW College Hill
Abstract
This chapter considers general defences other than those focused on the mental condition of the accused, and looks at cases where the defendant will usually have performed the actus reus with the appropriate mens rea. These general defences include infancy (children less than ten years old and children ten years old and above), duress, necessity and orders of a superior. The chapter also discusses public and private defence (‘self’-defence), the statutory ‘clarification’ of these defences, the controversy over householder self-defence, force used in the course of preventing crime or arresting offenders, force used in private defence, entrapment and impossibility.
