In modern legal systems, individuals are entitled to raise defenses during their trials to show that they were not fully responsible for their criminal conduct. The criminal justice system permits the use of defenses to ensure that the accused receives condign punishment, or proportional justice. This essay provides an overview of major defenses used across the globe including self-defense, insanity, automatism, and mistake of fact, necessity, duress, and provocation. The usage of defenses varies by jurisdiction. This article also touches on newer, more controversial defenses, such as the brainwashing defense, the rotten social background defense, the battered woman defense, the Black rage defense, the cultural defense, and religious defense. The question of which defenses are legitimate was reconsidered in the 1990s during the drafting of the statute for the International Criminal Court.
This chapter reviews the major ethical issues and questions peculiar to criminal defense attorneys as they represent their clients. While it is not possible to consider or anticipate every dilemma faced by those advocating for criminal defendants, the authors discuss the most significant issues as they have experienced them. Specific ethical considerations are discussed across the following subjects: the right to counsel, the presumption of innocence, and ethical issues that occur prior to and during trial. This is preceded by a review of basic defense attorney types, their functions, and the defense attorney’s often conflicted roles.