Criminal defenses

In the field of criminal law, there are a variety of conditions that will tend to negate elements of a crime (particularly the intent element), known as defenses. The label may be apt in jurisdictions where the accused may be assigned some burden before a tribunal. However, in many jurisdictions, the entire burden to prove a crime is on the prosecution, which also must prove the absence of these defenses, where implicated. In other words, in many jurisdictions the absence of these so-called defenses is treated as an element of the crime. So-called defenses may provide partial or total refuge from punishment.

A partial defense is a defense that does not completely absolve the defendant of guilt. A claim of self-defense, for example, may be a complete defense to a charge of murder, leading to an acquittal; or it may be a partial defense, which leads to conviction to a lesser verdict, such as manslaughter. In the United Kingdom, successfully pleading a partial defense for murder may reduce the conviction to voluntary manslaughter. There are three types of partial defense to the charge of murder - loss of control (which replaced "provocation" in 2010), diminished responsibility, and suicide pact.