In
common law, a defendant may raise any of the numerous defenses to limit or avoid liability. These include: • Lack of
personal or
subject matter jurisdiction of the court, such as
diplomatic immunity. (In law, this is not a defense as such but an argument that the case should not be heard at all.) • Failure to state a
cause of action or other insufficiencies of
pleading. • Any of the
affirmative defenses. • Defenses conferred by statute – such as a
statute of limitations or the
statute of frauds. •
Ex turpi causa non oritur actio – the action against the defendant arises from an illegality. •
Volenti non fit injuria –
consent by the victim or plaintiff. •
In pari delicto – both sides equally at fault. •
Act of God is an unforeseeable natural phenomenon which involves no human agency due directly to natural causes which cannot be foreseen. •
Necessity harm done to prevent a greater evil is not actionable even though the harm was caused intentionally. •
Mistake whether of fact or of law is no defence to action. • The law permits use of reasonable force to protect one's person or property. If force is used for self-defence they will not be liable for harm. •
Unclean hands. In addition to defenses against prosecution and liability, a defendant may also raise a defense of
justification – such as
self-defense and defense of others or
defense of property. In
English law, one could raise the argument of a
contramandatum, which was an argument that the plaintiff had no cause for complaint. ==Strategies==