General Defences

What General Defences covers

The defences available whatever the offence charged.

The 2 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Self-defence, duress and necessityRecall questions on self-defence, including honest and mistaken belief, reasonable force, intoxication, pre-emptive strikes and retreat, on the subjective and objective tests for duress by threats and its limits, on duress of circumstances, and on necessity.Open →
• Consent as a defenceRecall questions on real consent and consent obtained by fraud, the rule that consent is no defence to actual bodily harm, the exceptions for sport, surgery, tattooing and horseplay, implied consent, and consent to death.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take General Defences further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Duress by threats vs Duress of circumstances

  Duress by threats: a defence where the defendant acted under a threat of death or serious injury from a person. Duress of circumstances: a defence where the threat arose from the situation rather than a demand.

• Self-defence vs Prevention of crime

  Self-defence: the use of reasonable force to protect a person or property. Prevention of crime: the statutory defence of using reasonable force to prevent an offence.

• Householder case vs Ordinary self-defence case

  Householder case: a case where a greater degree of force may be reasonable against an intruder. Ordinary self-defence case: a case where force must be no more than reasonable in the circumstances as the defendant believed them.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   How is the defendant's belief that force was necessary assessed in self-defence?

   Model answer

   It is judged subjectively from the defendant's perspective — the defendant must have an honest belief that force was necessary.

2. 2

   What standard must the force used in self-defence meet?

   Model answer

   The force must be reasonable in the circumstances as the defendant believed them to be.

3. 3

   Who determines whether the force used was reasonable, and how is this assessed?

   Model answer

   The jury determines this objectively, considering what a reasonable person would do in the circumstances the defendant believed existed.

4. 4

   Can a defendant rely on self-defence if they were mistaken about the need for force?

   Model answer

   Yes, provided the belief was genuinely held, even if it was mistaken.

5. 5

   Can a defendant rely on self-defence if their mistaken belief arose from voluntary intoxication?

   Model answer

   No, a mistaken belief induced by voluntary intoxication cannot support a claim of self-defence.

6. 6

   Are pre-emptive strikes ever lawful in self-defence?

   Model answer

   Yes, if the defendant honestly believed an attack was imminent.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

General Defences revision questions

What does General Defences cover in OCR A-Level Law?

2 subtopics: self-defence, duress and necessity and consent as a defence. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is General Defences organised?

By the OCR H418 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.