Self-Defense

Self-defense is not an exception to Law. It is the immediate application of Law that preserves a boundary while it is being violated. An agent may use only the force necessary to stop an ongoing or immediately credible non-consensual crossing of a boundary over body, property, or agreed terms. The force must be causally directed at the agent crossing the boundary and must end when the violation ends. Self-defense is not punishment, revenge, deterrence, or Justice. It stops harm in progress; it does not close moral debt or threaten harm for possible future acts. The defender creates no new crime by refusing to submit, and the aggressor bears responsibility for harm caused by proportionate resistance. Striking agents for what they might become, acting without an ongoing or immediately credible violation, or using collective reprisal is coercion or war, not self-defense. After the violation stops, what follows belongs to Judgment and Justice -- finding responsibility, repairing material damage, and respecting the victim's sovereign choice of collection or release.