Northen Territory
http://www.australiancriminallawyers.com.au/web/page/NT_self_defence
Self defence to assault offences
In any assault type offence, you can raise self defence as an issue in your case. Once the question of self-defence is put in issue, the onus is on the prosecution to disprove self-defence beyond reasonable doubt. If the prosecution fail to disprove self defence the accused will be entitled to an acquittal.
If you are going to defend a case relying on self defence you need to know the law relating to self defence. Self defence is governed in Victoria by the common law. Statutory self-defence provisions exist in the Crimes Act 1958: one for use in murder cases (s9AC) and the other for use in manslaughter cases (s9AE).
Criminal Defence - Self Defence - The Test
The High Court has defined the test for self-defence, for both homicide and non-homicide cases, as follows:
The question to be asked in the end is quite simple. It is whether the accused believed upon reasonable grounds that it was necessary in self-defence to do what he [or she] did (Zecevic v Director of Public Prosecutions (1987) 162 CLR 645 at 661 per Wilson, Dawson and Toohey JJ).
There are two elements to this test:
- The accused must have believed at the time that s/he committed the relevant act that what s/he was doing was necessary (known as the “subjective element”); and
- That belief must have been based on reasonable grounds (known as the “objective element”).
Raising Self defence & who has to prove what
Once the question of self-defence is put in issue, the onus is on the prosecution to disprove at least one of these elements beyond reasonable doubt. If the prosecution fail to disprove at least one of these elements the accused will be entitled to an acquittal.
Criminal Defense - Self Defence - More detailed information
The information contained below involves complex legal principles. If you do not have a good knowledge of the law you may have difficulty understanding the principles. If you need assistance, please call or email us.
Legal Principles
Belief in Necessity (The Subjective Element)
Belief on Reasonable Grounds (The Objective Element)
Where the Accused Initiated the Aggression
People who originate an attack cannot then claim that they acted to defend themselves against a counter attack, unless their original aggression had ceased at the time of the counter attack
Defence against lawful force
Common law self-defence is not limited to defending against unlawful attacks. It is possible to raise the defence even if the accused was responding to the lawful use of force (such as a lawful arrest) However, it will only be in an unusual situation that a lawful attack will provide reasonable grounds for acting in self-defence. This is because where accused people create a situation in which force might lawfully be applied to apprehend them (e.g. where they are engaged in criminal behaviour of a violent kind), then the only reasonable view of their resistance to that force will usually be that they were acting as aggressors in pursuit of their original design, rather than in self-defence
