Legal Nature of Legitimate Defense and Its Jurisprudential Documents Based on Imam Khomeini's Viewpoints

In the course of history, man has always defended his life and property against any aggression. Despite the fact that the principle of self-defense has been widely accepted as an authorized act, there is difference of opinion among the theoreticians of law on the fundamentals of this principle. Some consider self-defense as criminal defense factor and a means of negation of criminal liability, while some say it is legitimate, and some others argue that it is a task and liability. In this paper, we will review some jurisprudential documents (narratives) of the legitimate defense, clarify its conditions and requisites, present a fourth theory, and finally we will try to substantiate the hypothesis. As a matter of fact, as far as the offender is committing aggression, his life and property is not covered under the general rule of respect. Thus, if the defender imposes financial damage or wounds on the offender or even kills him, he has indeed acted upon his liability and the blood and property of the offender shall not be subject to compensation since the cause is more responsible than principal.