Doctrines of Justification: When Should It Be Lawful for One to Engage in Conduct That Normally Would Constitute a Violation?

The criminalization doctrines give a complete account of what a person must or must not do in order to obey the criminal law. The doctrines are not, however, a complete statement of the criminal law’s rules of conduct. Unlike some of the other areas, there are a few studies in the psychological literature bearing on ordinary people’s perceptions of legitimacy of justifications for acts that would otherwise generate liability. A person may fail to meet some of the conditions for the use of deadly force in self-defense yet receive a defense or mitigation if he or she believes that the conditions are satisfied. The criminal law typically allows a person to use force in the protection of property. As with self-defense, the force used must be necessary to protect the property, both in amount of force used and in its timing; that is, no lesser force and no delay in use of force would have provided adequate protection.