Self-defense is the legal term for protecting oneself. Self-defense is a ground for exclusion of criminal liability. This means that under certain circumstances, it is permitted to commit a criminal act when it is committed to defend yourself or someone else. The law speaks of the \u201cdefense of one’s own or another’s body, honor, or property against immediate, unlawful assault.<\/em>\u201d <\/p>\n\n In such a case, the judge may find the act proven, but determine that this act is not punishable and therefore you cannot be punished for it.<\/p>\n\n A plea of self-defense will only be honored by the judge when several conditions are met.<\/p>\n\n It must be established that there is an immediate unlawful assault. This simply means that you are being attacked by someone else. That assault does not necessarily have to have already taken place. Self-defense can also apply in the case of an immediate imminent danger of such an assault. That threat must be sufficiently concrete and immediate. Think of someone coming at you with a knife. Mere fear of an unlawful assault is insufficient to assume self-defense. This assault does not necessarily have to be directed at you. Even when another person \u2013 or even your property \u2013 is attacked, you may defend them under certain circumstances. <\/p>\n\n There must be a necessity to defend yourself (or someone else) against that assault. Fighting back is not always the only option. This is called the subsidiarity requirement. The assessment of this often comes down to the question of whether you could have withdrawn from the situation. The judge will assess whether you had the opportunity to, for example, walk away or otherwise remove yourself from the assault, and whether that could also be expected of you. Only when the judge answers that question negatively were you forced and thus justified in defending yourself against that assault. In assessing this criterion, the circumstances of the case play a very large role. A criminal law attorney can plead on your behalf why you were forced to defend yourself in your case. <\/p>\n\n The final criterion is the proportionality requirement. The judge will assess whether the defensive action you chose (e.g., pushing, hitting, kicking, stabbing, etc.) was in proportion to the nature and severity of the assault. Only when these are in proportion to each other can you make a successful plea of self-defense. For example, when a person hits you in the face and you hit back, that will in principle be seen as proportional. However, when the assault consists of a simple push and you then stab this person with a knife, you are going much further than necessary and that defense is no longer proportional. <\/p>\n\n Self-defense is a ground for exclusion of criminal liability. More specifically, it is a ground of justification, which relates to the unlawfulness of the act committed. If you are suspected of, for example, manslaughter and you make a successful plea of self-defense, the act will be declared proven but it will be judged that this act is not punishable. You will therefore not receive a sanction for this. You will then be discharged from all further prosecution. In certain cases, self-defense can also lead to acquittal of the charge. However, that is only the case if the unlawfulness \u2013 which is removed by the self-defense \u2013 is an element of the statutory definition of the offense. This is the case, for example, with simple assault. <\/p>\n\n If the defense you chose is not in proportion to the assault against which you are defending yourself, the aforementioned proportionality requirement is not met. However, the foregoing does not mean that you are then automatically guilty of the act with which you are charged. The law also recognizes excessive self-defense. This is a ground for exclusion of guilt related to self-defense. The law prescribes that a perpetrator who goes too far in self-defense is not punishable when this excess results from a strong emotion triggered by the assault. So, if you are attacked and become so intensely emotional as a result that you can no longer properly see how far your defense should go – and you therefore exceed the proportionality limit – you can invoke excessive self-defense. Based on the file, it must then be established that there was a strong emotion on your part caused by the assault. In addition, the documents must show that the disproportionate defense is the immediate result of that strong emotion. <\/p>\n\n There are roughly two forms of excessive self-defense: intensive excessive self-defense and extensive excessive self-defense. <\/p>\n\n Intensive excessive self-defense means that the chosen method of defense is too severe. See the aforementioned example of stabbing someone who hit you. <\/p>\n\n In extensive excessive self-defense, on the other hand, it is not so much about the severity of the defense, but about its duration. If you are hit and you defend yourself with a punch, that is proportional. After that one punch, the assault may have already been averted. If you then continue with the defense when the assault is already over \u2013 by hitting again \u2013 you are continuing the defense for too long and that is disproportionate. <\/p>\n\n In both a defense that is too fierce and a defense that continues for too long, this excess must be the immediate result of the strong emotion.<\/p>\n\n A successful plea of excessive self-defense will also result in you being discharged from all further prosecution.<\/p>\n\n The grounds for exclusion of criminal liability, self-defense and excessive self-defense, were created to prevent someone from being punished for actions they were forced to take to defend themselves or another. This impunity, on the other hand, does not extend to situations in which a person has brought themselves into a situation where they had to defend themselves. When someone provokes an immediate unlawful assault by seeking the confrontation themselves, this is a case of culpa in causa, own fault<\/em>. A plea of self-defense, or excessive self-defense, will then not succeed. Also, when the assault itself consists of self-defense, one may not defend oneself against it. Self-defense against self-defense is therefore not possible. A lawyer can analyze your case and substantiate why you were entitled to defend yourself in a given situation. Feel free to contact us<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n The ground for exclusion of criminal liability, self-defense, is a complex doctrine that is not only legal but also very casuistic in nature. A criminal law attorney with the right knowledge of the law and all relevant case law is therefore of great importance. The success of a plea of self-defense can make the difference between receiving a punishment or not. Feel free to contact us<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-5476","expertise","type-expertise","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.strafrechtadvocaten.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/expertise\/5476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.strafrechtadvocaten.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/expertise"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.strafrechtadvocaten.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/expertise"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.strafrechtadvocaten.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}When can you invoke self-defense?<\/h2>\n\n
Immediate unlawful assault<\/h3>\n\n
Necessity to defend<\/h3>\n\n
Proportionality requirement<\/h3>\n\n
What is the consequence of a successful plea of self-defense?<\/h2>\n\n
What if you go too far during self-defense?<\/h2>\n\n
Intensive excessive self-defense<\/h3>\n\n
Extensive excessive self-defense<\/h3>\n\n
What if you provoke the attack yourself?<\/h2>\n\n
Why do you need a criminal law attorney?<\/h2>\n\n