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041217 AI generated

Portuguese Supreme Court rules that 'actual' defense covers imminent or ongoing criminal execution.

Case Number 041217
Court / Authority
Jurisdiction Portugal (PT)
Decision Date
Outcome Dismissed
Open official source Machine-readable Markdown (.md)

Legislator summary

AI generated

The Supreme Court of Justice dismissed the appeal regarding the scope of legitimate defense under Article 32 of the Penal Code. The court held that the term 'actual' is sufficiently broad to include aggression that is either imminent or already in the course of execution. Consequently, the defense was deemed valid because the criminal act was actively underway, satisfying the statutory requirement for self-defense.

Legislator headnote

Official

LEGITIMA DEFESA EXCESSO DE LEGITIMA DEFESA LEGITIMA DEFESA PUTATIVA MEDIDA DA PENA SUSPENSÃO DA EXECUÇÃO DA PENA

Keywords

AI generated
legitimate defense scope actual aggression requirement imminent threat defense course of execution Portuguese Penal Code self defense validity criminal execution phase

Cited Legislation

AI generated
Article 32 of the Penal Code

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Full text

[Nº CONVENCIONAL] JSTJ00004490 [Nº DO DOCUMENTO] SJ199010170412173 [PRIVACIDADE] 1 [PROCESSO NO TRIBUNAL RECURSO] 56/90 [REFERENCIA DE PUBLICACAO] BMJ N400 ANO1990 PAG306 [TEXTO INTEGRAL] N [TRIBUNAL RECURSO] T REL COIMBRA [URL] https://www.dgsi.pt/jstj.nsf/954f0ce6ad9dd8b980256b5f003fa814/B0F5328F2B2BBDFD802568FC00398208?OpenDocument

SUMÁRIO

I - O adjectivo "actual", incrustado no conceito de legitima defesa, previsto no artigo 32 do Codigo Penal, e suficientemente expressivo para abarcar a agressão iminente ou em começo de execução.

II - Basta, pois, que o "iter criminis" esteja em execução, para que a agressão possa ser considerada actual.