Nutná obrana

Under Czech law

Section 29 of the Criminal Code (Act No. 40/2009 Sb.) provides that an act otherwise criminal is not an offence if it averts an imminent or ongoing attack on an interest protected by criminal law. The limit is exceeded only where the defence was "zcela zjevně nepřiměřená" — manifestly, obviously disproportionate to the manner of the attack. Czech courts read this in favour of the defender: you are not required to retreat, to choose the mildest possible response, or to match weapons, and the proportionality is judged from the defender's perspective in the moment, not with hindsight.

Defence after the attack has clearly ended, or against a merely expected future attack, falls outside § 29 — that becomes revenge or prevention, both punishable.

A practical example

A shop owner is attacked at closing time by a man swinging a bottle. She strikes him with a bar stool, breaking his arm. Criminal proceedings are opened for grievous bodily harm but discontinued: the attack was ongoing, the response was not manifestly excessive, and § 29 applies in full.

When you need a lawyer

Paradoxically, the defender is often initially treated as a suspect — questioned, sometimes charged. Everything said in the first interview shapes the case. If you defended yourself and the police are involved, insist on consulting a defence lawyer before giving a detailed statement; the difference between § 29 and an excess is argued on precisely those details.