Defense (legal)
228102
215581228
2008-05-28T20:49:21Z
Liko81
3322667
/* Civil law defenses */
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{{Unreferenced|date=July 2007}}
In most [[litigation]] under the [[common law]] [[adversarial system]] the [[defendant]], perhaps with the assistance of [[lawyer|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 defense]]s are presented to limit or avoid liability; they are numerous and include:
*Lack of [[Personal jurisdiction|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 (theory)|self defense and defense of others]], [[defense of property]].
==See also==
*[[Absolute defense (legal)]]
[[Category:Law]]
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