Under the Law, you are entitled to use ‘reasonable force’ in order to protect yourself, another person or your property, to prevent a crime and or help to legally arrest a criminal.

This law comes from the Common Law and Statute Law. The ‘Common Law’ has always maintained a persons right to self-defence.

The Criminal Code Commission Bill 1897

The following statement accurately described the law on this subject:

“We take one great principle of the common law to be that although it sanctions the defence of a man’s person, liberty and property against illegal violence, and permits the use of force to prevent crimes, to preserve the public peace and to bring offenders to justice, yet all this is subject to the restriction that the force used is necessary; that is the mischief sought to be prevented could not be prevented by less violent means and that the mischief done by, or might reasonably be anticipated from, the force used is not disproportionate to the injury or mischief which it is intended to prevent.”

The basic principles of self-defence are set out in:
(Palmer v R, [1971] A.C 814); see also (Archbold 19-41)

"It is both good law and good sense that a man who is attacked may defend himself. It is both good law and good sense that he may do, but only do, what is reasonably necessary."

The Statute or Criminal Law is covered in Section 3 Criminal Law Act 1967 - Criminal Law Act 1967 (Archbold 19-39)

"A person may use such force as is reasonable in the circumstances in the prevention of crime, or in effecting or assisting in the lawful arrest of offenders or suspected offenders or of persons unlawfully at large." The force that is ‘reasonable’ to use in any situation will dpend on the circumstances at the time and the perceived level of threat you are facing. Broadly, for force to reasonable it must be ‘necessarry’ and in ‘proportion’ to the threat level faced. However, cases have established that:

A claim of self-defence is allowed if you have done no more than you instinctively believe is necessary to protect yourself from attack. (or another person or persons or prioperty); and In that situation you are not expected to judge precisely the measure of defensive force used.

The Law recognises that in the heat of the moment, it may be hard for you to assess the level of danger you face and therefore the amount of force necessarry to protect yourself ot other people. The courts take this into account. The Police and the Crown Prosecution Service also take this into account when deciding whether to bring charges. They will take account of all the circumstances, including whether it is in the public interest to bring charges.

Do I have to wait to be physically assaulted before taking steps to defend myself ?

A common misconception is that a person must first be physically assaulted before resorting to using force to defend themselves from attack. This is not the case and below are rulings made by Judges on the subject of self defence, the use of force and when it may be used.