Editing Assault (section)

==Defenses==
Although the range and precise application of defenses varies between jurisdictions, the following represents a list of the defenses that may apply to all levels of assault:

===Consent===
Exceptions exist to cover unsolicited physical contact which amount to normal social behavior known as [[de minimis]] harm. Assault can also be considered in cases involving the spitting on or unwanted exposure of bodily fluids to others.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nemeth |first=Charles P. |title=Criminal law |date=2012 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-4398-9787-4 |edition=2nd |location=Boca Raton |pages=218-221}}</ref>

[[consent (criminal law)|Consent]] may be a complete or partial defense to assault. In some jurisdictions, most notably England, it is not a defense where the degree of injury is severe, as long as there is no legally recognized good reason for the assault.<ref>(RvG ref 6. 1980): see {{cite web|title=R v Brown (1993) 2 All ER 75|url=http://lawteacher.net/Criminal/Non+Fatal+Assaults/Consent+R+v+Brown.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016125514/http://lawteacher.net/Criminal/Non%20Fatal%20Assaults/Consent%20R%20v%20Brown.htm|archive-date=16 October 2007|access-date=2009-09-17|website=LawTeacher}}</ref> This can have important consequences when dealing with issues such as consensual [[sadomasochism|sadomasochistic sexual activity]], the most notable case being the [[Operation Spanner]] case. Legally recognized good reasons for consent include surgery, activities within the rules of a game ([[mixed martial arts]], [[wrestling]], [[boxing]], or [[contact sports]]), bodily adornment (''R v Wilson'' [1996] Crim LR 573), or horseplay (''R v Jones'' [1987] Crim LR 123). However, any activity outside the rules of the game is not legally recognized as a defense of consent. In Scottish law, consent is not a defense for assault.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bailii.org/scot/cases/ScotHC/1975/1975_JC_30.html|title=''Smart v. H. M. Advocate'', [1975<nowiki>]</nowiki> ScotHC HCJ_1, 1975 SLT 65, 1975 JC 30.|website=bailii.org|access-date=23 July 2018}}</ref>

===Arrest and other official acts===
[[Police officers]] and court officials have a general power to [[Use of force|use force]] for the purpose of performing an [[arrest]] or generally carrying out their official duties. Thus, a court officer taking possession of goods under a court order may use force if reasonably necessary.

===Punishment===
In some jurisdictions such as [[Caning in Singapore|Singapore]], [[judicial corporal punishment]] is part of the [[legal system]]. The officers who administer the punishment have [[Sovereign immunity|immunity]] from prosecution for assault.

In the United States, England, Northern Ireland, Australia and Canada, [[Corporal punishment in the home#Where corporal punishment in the home is lawful|corporal punishment administered to children by their parent or legal guardian]] is not legally considered to be assault unless it is deemed to be excessive or unreasonable. What constitutes "reasonable" varies in both statutory law and [[case law]]. Unreasonable physical punishment may be charged as assault or under a separate statute for [[child abuse]].

In [[English law]], s.&nbsp;58 [[Children Act 2004]] limits the availability of the lawful correction defense to common assault.<ref>{{cite legislation UK |type=act |year=2004 |chapter=31 |section=58 |act=Children Act 2004}}</ref> This defence was abolished in Wales in 2022.<ref>{{cite legislation Wales |type=act|year=2020|chapter=3|section=1|title=Children (Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Act 2020|mode=cs1}} Section 1. This section came into force two years after the Act received royal assent (see section 5(1)).</ref>

Many countries, including some US states, also permit the use of controversial corporal punishment for [[School corporal punishment|children in school]] or home. 

===Prevention of crime===
This may or may not involve self-defense in that, using a reasonable degree of force to prevent another from committing a crime could involve preventing an assault, but it could be preventing a crime not involving the use of personal violence.

===Defense of property===
Some jurisdictions allow force to be used in [[Defence of property|defense of property]], to prevent damage either in its own right, or under one or both of the preceding classes of defense in that a threat or attempt to damage property might be considered a crime (in English law, under s5 [[Criminal Damage Act 1971]] it may be argued that the defendant has a ''lawful excuse'' to damage property during the defense and a defense under s3 [[Criminal Law Act 1967]]) subject to the need to deter [[vigilante]]s and excessive self-help. Furthermore, some jurisdictions, such as Ohio, allow residents in their homes to use force when ejecting an intruder. The resident merely needs to assert to the court that they felt threatened by the intruder's presence.