Defense (legal)

In civil proceedings and criminal prosecutions under the common law, a defendant may raise a defense (or defence) in an attempt to avoid criminal or civil liability. It is an answer, made by a defendant to a plaintiff's action or a denial of a prosecutor's charges.^[1] It is also an answer in equity.^[2]

1. ↑ Irving Shapiro, The New Dictionary of Legal Terms (Flushing, NY: Looseleaf Law Publications, 1984), p. 55
2. ↑ "What is DEFENSE?". The Law Dictionary. Retrieved 24 October 2015.