Excuses, justifications, and exonerations are all used in criminal law.

It is the act of being exonerated from responsibility, and explanation and justification are the most prevalent criminal defences used to accomplish this goal in the criminal justice system.

Excuse, Justification, and Exculpation: The Fundamentals of Criminal Law

Excuse, justification, and apologies are all acceptable forms of apologies.

It is the act of being exonerated from responsibility, and explanation and justification are the most prevalent criminal defences used to accomplish this goal in the criminal justice system. If a defendant is found not guilty despite having committed an actus reus, having the necessary state of mind, and causing the damage to society that would ordinarily be considered criminal behaviour, excuse and justification are the most common affirmative defences that are used in the United States’ criminal justice system to provide rationale for finding him not guilty. It is generally agreed that the exoneration of guilt – in cases when it is warranted or excusable – is more desirable to society than the rote prosecution of particular offences.

Justifications are defences that are focused largely on the criminal crime that the defendant has been charged with committing. A criminal crime may be justified if it has a positive impact on society or promotes ideas that are highly regarded by the community. For example, assault and battery may be totally permissible if it can be shown that the acts were taken in self defence. Because it is a basic tenet of society that everyone has the right to protect oneself if they are attacked, this action is often appropriate in many instances.

In contrast to criminal defences, excuse defences are geared at the actor rather than toward the illegal act. However, even though the defendant’s actions were criminal and intentional, and even though they caused some level of harm to society, these defences may be sufficient to exonerate the defendant from criminal liability if it is determined that the defendant was not responsible for his own actions for some extenuating circumstance. If the defendant was unintentionally drugged and then causes injury to another person while drunk, her actions may be pardoned and exonerated under the law.

Justification and excuse can only take you so far in their reach. Some crimes are so heinous that there is no way to completely exonerate oneself, however excuses and justifications may be used to mitigate criminal responsibility to some extent. Because of the duress defence, a defendant may be exonerated of illegal activities performed when under danger of death from another person. While stealing may be totally excusable in these circumstances, taking the life of an innocent person is almost definitely not. In this particular instance, the duress defence is unlikely to completely exonerate the defendant of criminal responsibility, but it may be effective in reducing the defendant’s criminal culpability from murder to manslaughter.