Why does the law allow self defence?

Answer 1

People who get in trouble for defending themselves do so because they either are not able to prove their case in court, or because they used more force than necessary in defending themselves. In a case of self defense you must be able to adequately articulate everything that led up to the altercation in detail, you must be able to prove that you were defending yourself and not the one who started the altercation, you must be able to convince the judge or jury that you had good reason to use the amount of force used, and it helps if you have witnesses who can collaborate your account of things. Under certain circumstances you can claim self defense even if you started the altercation. If you started a fight and then tried to disengage, but the other person would not stop and escalates the level of force then you may be able to claim self defense.

Answer 2

Answer

Self-defense is not wrong in certain circumstances. If someone is intent on harming you or worse, you have the right to defend yourself, but lethal force by a defender cannot be used where lethal force is not used by an aggressor, and even then one should use the minimum force necessary to stop the aggressor without killing him. Your first option in such a situation is to make a get away without fighting if possible. What isn't right is retaliation, which is attacking someone a week after a confrontation. Self-defense is something that can only happen in the moment, if after the fact it becomes retaliation and is assault, and this is wrong.