| R v Patel | |
| Court: | Appellate Division |
| Full Name: | R v Patel |
| Citations: | 1959 (3) SA 121 (A) |
| Judges: | Steyn CJ, AB Beyers JA and Holmes AJA |
| Number Of Judges: | 3 |
| Decision By: | Holmes AJA |
| Keywords: | Criminal law, Murder, Culpable homicide, Self-defence |
| Italic Title: | force |
R v Patel is an important case in South African criminal law, heard on May 8, 1959. The appellant's attorneys were Levy, Rogaly & Cohen, Pretoria, and S. and v A Rosendorff, Bloemfontein. The Appellate Division ruled that "a person has the same right to use force in the defence of another from a threatened danger, as he would have to defend himself, if he were the person threatened."[1]
In an appeal from a conviction of culpable homicide, it appeared that the appellant's brother had been struck by the deceased on the back with a hammer, and—he was then in a crouching position—that the next hammer blow might have landed on his head. The appellant had in this critical situation used the only weapon to hand: his revolver. He had fired at the deceased and killed him.
The general principles mentioned by Watermeyer CJ, in R v Attwood,[2] are that an accused is entitled to an acquittal on the ground that he was acting in self-defence if it appears as a reasonable possibility on the evidence
The court in Patel appeared to approve this view,[5] holding that a person has the same right to use force in the defence of another from a threatened danger as he would have to defend himself, if he were the person threatened. The Crown had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused had exceeded the bounds of justifiable homicide.