The first paragraph of Article 20 of the Criminal Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) is a legal provision on self-defense, which makes it clear that under certain circumstances, if a citizen stops an ongoing illegal infringement in order to safeguard national interests, public interests, personal, property and other rights of himself or others, it belongs to self-defense and does not bear criminal responsibility.

I. Definition and conditions of justifiable defense

According to the first paragraph of Article 20 of the Criminal Law of People's Republic of China (PRC), justifiable defense refers to the necessary defensive actions taken by citizens to protect their own or others' legitimate rights and interests in the face of ongoing illegal infringement. This kind of defensive behavior is considered legal in law and does not bear criminal responsibility.

In order to constitute self-defense, the following conditions need to be met: first, the illegal infringement must be ongoing, that is, the infringement has begun but not ended; Secondly, the defensive behavior must be carried out against the illegal infringer himself; Thirdly, the defensive behavior must be to stop illegal infringement, and it does not obviously exceed the necessary limit; Finally, defensive behavior must cause unlawful infringement.

Second, the boundaries and judgments of self-defense.

Although self-defense is a legitimate right of citizens, it must also be bound by law. When judging whether an act constitutes justifiable defense, we need to consider the necessity, rationality and whether it exceeds the necessary limit. If the defensive behavior obviously exceeds the necessary limit and causes great damage, it may constitute excessive defense and need to bear corresponding legal responsibilities.

At the same time, we should also pay attention to distinguish between legitimate defense and fighting with each other, picking fights and other illegal acts. Self-defense is to stop the ongoing illegal infringement, and fighting with the other side, picking fights and making troubles are illegal and do not constitute self-defense.

Third, the practical significance of justifiable defense

The regulation of self-defense is of great significance in practice. It encourages citizens to bravely protect themselves in the face of illegal infringement and safeguard social fairness and justice. At the same time, it also reminds citizens to abide by the law when exercising the right of legitimate defense, and not to abuse the right of defense to avoid unnecessary damage and disputes.

To sum up:

The first paragraph of Article 20 of the Criminal Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) stipulates the legal protection of citizens in the face of unlawful infringement. When exercising the right of legitimate self-defense, citizens should abide by the law and ensure the legality and rationality of the defense behavior. At the same time, all sectors of society should also strengthen the popularization and publicity of self-defense legal knowledge and improve citizens' legal awareness and self-protection ability.

Legal basis:

Criminal law of the people's Republic of China

Article 20 provides that:

In order to protect the state, public interests, personal, property and other rights of oneself or others from ongoing illegal infringement, stopping illegal infringement and causing damage to the illegal infringer, it belongs to self-defense and does not bear criminal responsibility.

If justifiable defense obviously exceeds the necessary limit and causes great damage, criminal responsibility shall be borne, but the punishment shall be mitigated or exempted.

Taking defensive actions against violent crimes such as assault, murder, robbery, rape, kidnapping, etc., which seriously endanger personal safety, and causing casualties to illegal infringers, is not excessive defense and does not bear criminal responsibility.