DEFENSE (Lat. d? ft ad, re. to ward off). In eriminal law. the rbdit of forcible resistance to an attack by force on person or property. The exercise t f this right may he a of the charge of tissault or homicide. It is restricted II) the ye lit t f is reasona bly necessary for the protection of one'. self, his wife, children. and other of his lionsc hold, his personal property, and, where a felony is threatened, a: burglary or arson, real prop , rty. lie may also resist by force a violent at tempt to commit a trespass. even without felo nious intent, upon the premise: eonstituting his dwelling. For the limitations upon the of the right of defense. see AssAuur: In the law of civil and criminal procedure. the answer of the defendant in a suit to the enlist' I if action set up by the plaintiff. As commonly tinployed under the reformed procedure in Eng land and many of the United States, the defense includes the (t( m urn r. in which the facts alleged by the plaintiff are admitted, but their legal ef fect is denied, and the justification by the defend ant of the acts of NI hiell the plaintiff complains, as well as the bare denial of the allegations of the complaint or statement of claim. It does not, however. cover it counterclaim (q.v.), or separate cause of action. set up by the defendant.
Under the highly technical procedure of the common law. defense (from French defender, to deny) was only. the first step in the defendant's answer to the plaintiff's cause of action, and was limited to a denial of the truth or validity of the complaint. This was followed by the idea, under
whieh the jurisdiction of the eourt and the legal validity of the facts alleged in the complaint mi•lit he questioned, and the justification of the defendant set forth. This system of pleading still obtains in several of the American States, but the term defense has generally come to have the wider meaning assigned to it above, which in •ludes the plea and demurrer of the defendant, as well as his technical defense. Formerly. also, the term had no reference to the answer interposed by a defendant to the charges contained in a bill or information filed in an equity proceeding. being restricted to actions at law. Under the re formed procedure, however, this distinction no longer obtains. and the term defense may be em ployed in either forum.
In general. it may be said that the defense must contain a specific denial or justification of each and every allegation of the complaint, to gether with a statement of any facts relied upon by the defendant to relieve hint from the plain tiff's claim of liability. It must usually be veri fied by the defendant or his solicitor or attorney and served upon the defendant or his leoal repre sentative within a limited time—usually twenty days—after the service of the complaint. The defense once made, the 'muse is at issue, and may usually proceed to trial without further pleading. See 1N : also DE:qui:um; PLEA: PLEADING, an 1 the authorities there referred to.