INTRODUCTION 1
1 THE RATIONALE OF PRIVATE DEFENCE 11
1.1 The Distinction between Justification and Excuse 11
1.2 The Distinction between an Offence and a Defence 19
1.3 The Rationale of Private Defence from a Historical Perspective 30
1.4 Private Defence as an Excuse 36
1.5 Private Defence as a Justification 40
1.6 The Proposed Rationale 90
2 PRIVATE DEFENCE： A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS 107
2.1 General 107
2.2 Private Defence in English and American Law 108
3 THE ELEMENTS OF PRIVATE DEFENCE 117
3.1 General 117
3.2 The Scope of Application of the Defence 117
3.3 Which Values may be Justifiably Defended? 122
3.4 The Source of Danger and the Character of the Attack 128
3.5 The Severity of Danger 140
3.6 The Necessity Requirement 143
3.7 The Immediacy Requirement 150
3.8 The Proportionality Requirement 166
3.9 The Duty to Retreat 192
3.10 The Mental Element 217
4 INTERNAL DISTINCTIONS IN PRIVATE DEFENCE 239
4.1 General (and Self-Defence) 239
4.2 Defence of Another Person 240
4.3 Defence of Property 252
4.4 Defence of Another Person’s Property 263
4.5 Defence of the Dwelling 266
5 ADDITIONAL ISSUES IN PRIVATE DEFENCE 279
5.1 General 279
5.2 Putative Private Defence 282
5.3 Deviation from the Conditions of Private Defence 296
5.4 Situation of Private Defence Caused by the Actor Bearing Guilt 310
5.5 The Defensive Action of Battered Women 339
EPILOGUE： THE PROPOSED LAW 355
Bibliography 361
Index 369