GENERAL PROVISIONS

CHAPTER V
CIRCUMSTANCES ELIMINATING CRIMINAL LIABILITY

Article 28. Self-Defence

1. A person shall have the right to self-defence. He may exercise this right regardless of whether he had the possibility of avoiding the attempt or applying for assistance to other persons or authorities.

2. A person shall not be held liable under this Code where he, while acting within the limits permitted by self-defence, committed an act formally having the features of a crime or misdemeanour provided for in a criminal law when defending himself or another person, property, inviolability of a dwelling, other rights, interests of society or the State against an initiated or imminent dangerous attempt.

3. The limits of self-defence shall be exceeded when a murder is committed or a serious health impairment is caused with a specific intent, where defence has been clearly disproportionate to the nature and dangerousness of an attempt. The limits of self-defence shall not be considered to have been exceeded by reason of extreme confusion or fright caused by the dangerous attempt or an act committed in the course of defence against breaking into a dwelling.

4. A person who has exceeded the limits of self-defence shall be held criminally liable, however a penalty imposed upon him may be commuted under Article 62 of this Code.