Chapter 29: Self-Defense: Domestic and International

Intention

________: The consensus among Western legal systems is that in order to invoke a sound claim of self- defense, the defender must know about the attack and act with the ________ of repelling it.

Self-Defense

________ is the anchor that orients the law of war.

Rome Statute

The ________ says nothing about necessity in defending persons, but as to property the statute is demanding.

New York Penal Code

The ________ requires that the actor "reasonably believes "the use of force "to be necessary to defend himself or a third person ..

Necessity

________: Force is never justified unless it is necessary.

Military aggression

________ is prohibited under international law, but the use of military force in self- defense is permissible under the United Nations Charter Article 51.

Imminence

________: The requirement of imminence means that the time for defense is now.

self defense

The positive, or written, law varies from place to place largely in the detail with which ________ is described.

Rome Statute

The ________, establishing the International Criminal Court as of July 1, 2002, is our guide to international criminal law.

The German statute, § 32, sums it up in a few words

"A defensive use of force is legitimate when necessary to avert an imminent unlawful attack to oneself or others."

The New York statute says

NYPL §35.15(1) A person may, subject to the provisions of sub-division two, use physical force upon another person when and to the extent he reasonably believes such to be necessary to defend himself or a third person from what he reasonably believes to be the use or imminent use of unlawful physical force by such other person, unless

Imminence

The requirement of imminence means that the time for defense is now

Necessity

Force is never justified unless it is necessary

Proportionality

Proportionality in self-defense requires a balancing of competing interests, the interests of the defender and those of the aggressor

Intention

The consensus among Western legal systems is that in order to invoke a sound claim of self-defense, the defender must know about the attack and act with the intention of repelling it

imminence

The requirement of _____________ means that the time for defense is now! The defender cannot wait any longer.

Proportionality

______________ in self-defense requires a balancing of competing interests, the interests of the defender and those of the aggressor.