If you committed a criminal offence - dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, for example - without knowing that what you were doing was against the law, could you use this ignorance as a defence at your trial?

What if someone attacked you or your property and in defending yourself (or your property) you seriously injured the attacker? Would you be allowed to use self-defence in court to justify your actions?

What if you went out and got yourself so drunk you honestly did not know what you were doing and you committed a crime? Could you claim that you did not have the necessary mens rea for the offence?

In this lesson, you will be looking at the various defences that people accused of crimes can and cannot use in court - either to show that they are not guilty or are guilty of an offence less serious than the one they are charged with. When you are finished, you should be able to answer questions like those in the preceding paragraph.