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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.
A defendant will often contest the accuracy of the allegations made against him or her in a criminal indictment or in a civil complaint. A defense, by contrast, does not depend on refuting such allegations. Instead, a defense introduces new matter, arguing that, even if the allegations against the defendant are true, the defendant is entitled to prevail for some other reason.
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, such as diplomatic immunity
- Failure to state a cause of action or other insufficiencies of pleading
- Statute of limitations, statute of frauds, and other defenses conferred by statute
- Ex turpi causa non oritur actio
- Volenti non fit injuria
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.
See also
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- This page was last modified on 28 May 2008, at 20:49.
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