Feasibility of Legitimate Defense against Attackers without Criminal Liability With Emphasis on the Islamic Penal Code Approved in 2013

Abstract

The personal characteristics, such as insanity in the attacker have caused doubt about the possibility of defense to repel the attack of these attackers. Proponents of the permission of defense rely on arguments, such as the absence of a requirement to flee, the non-punishment of the defense, the non-necessity of the offense being a crime, and the illegitimacy of the offense. On the other hand, the opponents of defense have cited arguments such as the necessity to flee, lack of criminal responsibility of the attacker and the crime of rape, and they believe that the only way to counter the attack of this group of attackers is to rely on emergency. Before 2013, the legislator was silent about the defense against attackers without criminal liability. In the Islamic Penal Code approved in 2013, in Note 3 of Article 156, the defense has been accepted against a type of person without criminal liability called insane. The present article has investigated the evidence of this type of defense with analytical-descriptive method, and by emphasizing the Islamic Penal Code approved in 2013, it has considered the permissionto defend against attackers without criminal liability.