legal excuse
Valid exculpatory reason
A legal excuse is a reason recognized by law that exempts someone from an obligation or liability.
Courts accept certain circumstances—illness, impossibility, duress—as valid grounds for failing to perform a duty or appear as required: Her attorney argued that caring for a dying parent was a legal excuse for missing the hearing.
The phrase distinguishes reasons the law will accept from mere explanations or personal justifications.
- duressCoercion through threats
- undue influenceImproper pressure overriding autonomy
- provocationAct that triggers response
- reasonable beliefOpinion with adequate grounds
- coercionPressured compliance through threats
force majeure · heat of passion · necessity · diplomatic immunity · automatism · defense of others · statute of limitations · consent · implied consent · sovereign immunity · entrapment · act of God · self-defense · double jeopardy · mental incapacity · intoxication · mitigating circumstances · public duty
legal excuseconviction
Firmly held belief
guilty verdict · liability · culpability · criminal responsibility · condemnation
legal excuseadmission
Entry or confession
confession · guilty plea · admission of guilt · mea culpa · self-incrimination
legal excuseguilt
Moral self-reproach
culpability · criminal liability · blameworthiness · conviction · condemnation