# Domestic Abuse and Civil Proceedings Act (Northern Ireland) 2021, Section 12: Defence on grounds of reasonableness


(1) In proceedings in respect of a charge against a person (“A”) of the domestic abuse offence, it is a defence for A to show that the course of behaviour was reasonable in the particular circumstances.
(2) That is shown if—
(a) evidence adduced is enough to raise an issue as to whether the course of behaviour is as described in subsection (1), and
(b) the prosecution does not prove beyond reasonable doubt that the course of behaviour is not as described in subsection (1).

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nia/2021/2/section/12 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/domestic-abuse-and-civil-proceedings-act-northern-ireland-2021/section-12
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.