ABSTRACT
The most important justifications in German Criminal Law are self-defence, necessity, citizen's arrest, and consent. German Criminal Law recognises, inter alia, mistake of law, duress, excessive self-defence, and insanity as valid excuses. With regard to excusatory defences, German criminal law distinguishes between circumstances which affect the criminal capability of the agent and grounds which under certain pressing circumstances negate the personal blameworthiness of the actor. Within the justificatory defences, self-defence takes precedence since it grants the defendant the most extensive rights. Factual misconceptions about the very existence of an attack are no form of excessive self-defence, but may qualify as a mistake regarding the factual basis of a recognized justificatory defence. Even in cases of provocation an invocation of excessive self-defence is not excluded as long as the provocateur has retained the primary right to self-defence. Section 17 StGB is equally applicable if the defendant is mistaken about the existence or reach of a justificatory defence.
