FindLaw.com Free and reliable legal information for consumers and legal professionals A law enforcement privilege justification means that a law enforcement officer has the right to use force against another person if he or she has reason to believe that force is necessary to make an arrest or search to assist in an arrest or search. to prevent an escape after an arrest or to help prevent an escape after an arrest. The law enforcement officer must act in his or her official capacity to claim that the use of force was justified. A law enforcement officer may be justified in using lethal force if he or she has reason to believe that lethal force is immediately necessary to make an arrest or prevent an escape. Although the law enforcement officer is not required to retreat before using lethal force, a suspect may be entitled to a warning before using lethal force if the warning is feasible. A law enforcement officer is generally not authorized to use lethal force during a search. LawInfo.com National Bar Directory and Consumer Legal Resources The FindLaw Legal Dictionary – free access to over 8260 definitions of legal terms. Search for a definition or browse our legal glossaries. A justification means that a defendant attempts to evade responsibility for a crime by stating the circumstances that justified the defendant`s actions. A justification is not a real defense.
To justify himself, the accused generally admits that he committed the crime, but asserts that his conduct was justified on the basis of the facts and circumstances. The Hebrew word for “justify” is hitsdik, which in the vast majority of cases means “to declare before a court that one`s own state conforms to the requirements of the law, Ex 23:7; Deuteronomy 25:1; Proverbs 17:15; Isaiah 5:23. The piel tziddek sometimes has the same meaning, Jeremiah 3:11; Eze 16:50, 51. The meaning of these words is therefore strictly medico-legal or legal. While Roman Catholics, proponents of the theory of the moral influence of the Atonement such as John Young of Edinburgh and Horace Bushnell, and modern Unitarians and liberal theologians, deny the legal meaning of the term “justify” and attribute to it the moral meaning of “doing right or just,” it becomes important to consider considerations that can be pushed in favor of the juridical meaning. Take note. When talking about the biblical teaching on justification, people sometimes refer to a Hebrew understanding of the concept and then conclude that the forensic or legal understanding of the doctrine is wrong. I found Berkhof`s first words in his section on justification helpful in the discussion. It is an old common law principle that intrusion can be justified in many cases. A man can justify what would otherwise have been an intrusion. For example, entering someone else`s property in order to claim a debt owed to them from the owner of the property or to remove movable property belonging to them is justified. Such entry should be peaceful.
The justification must be expressly invoked before the court. The courts do not accept evidence on the objection to the general problem. The evidentiary justification exception constitutes a total obstacle to the remedy. Are you a lawyer? Visit our professional website » A justification is similar to a defence in that a defendant has the burden of raising the issue and presenting evidence in support of the problem. The onus is then on the prosecution to prove that the defendant`s actions were not justified. The accused is entitled to a jury hearing on the questions of justification raised by the evidence, even if the issues are inconsistent. Justification is an exception to the prohibition against committing certain crimes. Justification can be a defense in a prosecution for a crime. If an act is justified, a person is not criminally responsible, although his or her act would otherwise constitute a criminal offence. For example, the intentional commission of homicide would be considered murder. However, it is not considered a crime if committed in self-defence. In addition to self-defense, the other defense of justification is defense of others, defense of property, and necessity (usually it fails as a defense of civil disobedience because protest could have been demonstrated without breaking laws).
[2] EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM. The act by which a defendant presents and maintains before the court a valid and legal reason why he did what he is responsible for.