In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in criminal prosecution, civil liability, or both. Additionally, assault is a criminal act in which a person intentionally causes fear of physical harm or offensive contact to another person. Assault can be committed with or without a weapon and can range from physical violence to threats of violence. Assault is frequently referred to as an attempt to commit battery, which is the deliberate use of physical force against another person. The deliberate inflicting of fear, apprehension, or terror is another definition of assault that can be found in several legal systems. Depending on the severity of the offense, assault may result in a fine, imprisonment, or even death.
Generally, the common law definition is the same in criminal and tort law.
Traditionally, common law legal systems have separate definitions for assault and battery. When this distinction is observed, battery refers to the actual bodily contact, whereas assault refers to a credible threat or attempt to cause battery. Some jurisdictions combined the two offenses into a single crime called "assault and battery", which then became widely referred to as just "assault". The result is that in many of these jurisdictions, assault has taken on a definition that is more in line with the traditional definition of battery. The legal systems of civil law and Scots law have never distinguished assault from battery.
Legal systems generally acknowledge that assaults can vary greatly in severity. In the United States, an assault can be charged as either a misdemeanor or a felony. In England and Wales and Australia, it can be charged as either common assault, assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH) or grievous bodily harm (GBH). Canada also has a three-tier system: assault, assault causing bodily harm and aggravated assault. Separate charges typically exist for sexual assaults, affray and assaulting a police officer. Assault may overlap with an attempted crime; for example, an assault may be charged as attempted murder if it was done with intent to kill.
Contents
Related definitions
Battery
Battery is a criminal offense that involves the use of physical force against another person without their consent. It is a type of assault and is considered a serious crime. Battery can include a wide range of actions, from slapping someone to causing serious harm or even death. Depending on the severity of the offense, it can carry a wide range of punishments, including jail time, fines, and probation.
In jurisdictions that make a distinction between the two, assault usually accompanies battery if the assailant both threatens to make unwanted contact and then carries through with this threat. See common assault. The elements of battery are that it is a volitional act, done for the purpose of causing a harmful or offensive contact with another person or under circumstances that make such contact substantially certain to occur, and which causes such contact.
Aggravated assault
Aggravated assault is a violent crime that involves violence or the threat of violence. It is generally described as an intentional act that causes another person to fear imminent physical harm or injury. This can include the use of a weapon, or the threat of using a weapon. It is usually considered a felony offense and can carry severe penalties. Aggravated assault is often considered a very serious crime and can lead to long-term prison sentences.
Aggravated assault is, in some jurisdictions, a stronger form of assault, usually using a deadly weapon. A person has committed an aggravated assault when that person attempts to:
cause serious bodily injury to another person with a deadly weapon
have sexual relations with a person who is under the age of consent
cause bodily harm by recklessly operating a motor vehicle during road rage; often referred to as either vehicular assault or aggravated assault with a motor vehicle.
Aggravated assault can also be charged in cases of attempted harm against police officers or other public servants.
Defenses
Although the range and precise application of defenses varies between jurisdictions, the following represents a list of the defenses that may apply to all levels of assault:
Consent
Exceptions exist to cover unsolicited physical contact that amounts to normal social behavior known as de minimis harm. Assault can also be considered in cases involving the spitting on or unwanted exposure of bodily fluids to others.
Consent may be a complete or partial defense to assault. In some jurisdictions, most notably England, it is not a defense where the degree of injury is severe, as long as there is no legally recognized good reason for the assault. This can have important consequences when dealing with issues such as consensual sadomasochistic sexual activity, the most notable case being the Operation Spanner case. Legally recognized good reasons for consent include surgery, activities within the rules of a game (mixed martial arts, wrestling, boxing, or contact sports), bodily adornment (R v Wilson [1996] Crim LR 573), or horseplay (R v Jones [1987] Crim LR 123). However, any activity outside the rules of the game is not legally recognized as a defense of consent. In Scottish law, consent is not a defense for assault.
Arrest and other official acts
Police officers and court officials have a general power to use force for the purpose of performing an arrest or generally carrying out their official duties. Thus, a court officer taking possession of goods under a court order may use force if reasonably necessary.
Punishment
In some jurisdictions such as Singapore, judicial corporal punishment is part of the legal system. The officers who administer the punishment have immunity from prosecution for assault.
In the United States, England, Northern Ireland, Australia and Canada, corporal punishment administered to children by their parent or legal guardian is not legally considered to be assault unless it is deemed to be excessive or unreasonable. What constitutes "reasonable" varies in both statutory law and case law. Unreasonable physical punishment may be charged as assault or under a separate statute for child abuse.
In English law, s. 58 Children Act 2004 limits the availability of the lawful correction defense to common assault. This defence was abolished in Wales in 2022.
Many countries, including some US states, also permit the use of controversial corporal punishment for children in school or home.
Prevention of crime
This may or may not involve self-defense in that, using a reasonable degree of force to prevent another from committing a crime could involve preventing an assault, but it could be preventing a crime not involving the use of personal violence.
Defense of property
Some jurisdictions allow force to be used in defense of property, to prevent damage either in its own right, or under one or both of the preceding classes of defense in that a threat or attempt to damage property might be considered a crime (in English law, under s5 Criminal Damage Act 1971 it may be argued that the defendant has a lawful excuse to damage property during the defense and a defense under s3 Criminal Law Act 1967) subject to the need to deter vigilantes and excessive self-help. Furthermore, some jurisdictions, such as Ohio, allow residents in their homes to use force when ejecting an intruder. The resident merely needs to assert to the court that they felt threatened by the intruder's presence.
By country
Reported rate
The below table shows the rate of reported serious assaults for individual countries according to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime for the last available year.
Estimates of prevalence
The percentage of population which was physically assaulted in the past 12 months according to statistical surveys is shown in the below table.
Australia
The term 'assault', when used in legislation, commonly refers to both common assault and battery, even though the two offences remain distinct. Common assault involves intentionally or recklessly causing a person to apprehend the imminent infliction of unlawful force, whilst battery refers to the actual infliction of force.
Each state has legislation relating to the act of assault, and offences against the act that constitute assault are heard in the magistrates' court of that state or indictable offences are heard in a district or supreme court of that state. The legislation that defines assault of each state outline what the elements are that make up the assault, where the assault is sectioned in legislation or criminal codes, and the penalties that apply for the offence of assault.
In New South Wales, the Crimes Act 1900 defines a range of assault offences deemed more serious than common assault and which attract heavier penalties. These include:
Acts done to the person with intent to murder
Wounding or grievous bodily harm
Use or possession of a weapon to resist arrest
Actual bodily harm – the term is not defined in the Crimes Act, but case law indicates actual bodily harm may include injuries such as bruises and scratches, as well as psychological injuries if the injury inflicted is more than merely transient (the injury does not necessarily need to be permanent)
Wounding – where there is breaking of the skin;
Grievous bodily harm – which includes the destruction of a fetus, permanent or serious disfiguring, and transmission of a grievous bodily disease
Death
Death when intoxicated (in regards to the offender)
Canada
Assault is an offence under s. 265 of the Canadian Criminal Code. There is a wide range of the types of assault that can occur. Generally, an assault occurs when a person directly or indirectly applies force intentionally to another person without their consent. It can also occur when a person attempts to apply such force, or threatens to do so, without the consent of the other person. An injury need not occur for an assault to be committed, but the force used in the assault must be offensive in nature with an intention to apply force. It can be an assault to "tap", "pinch", "push", or direct another such minor action toward another, but an accidental application of force is not an assault.
The potential punishment for an assault in Canada varies depending on the manner in which the charge proceeds through the court system and the type of assault that is committed. The Criminal Code defines assault as a dual offence (indictable or summary offence). Police officers can arrest someone without a warrant for an assault if it is in the public's interest to do so notwithstanding S.495(2)(d) of the Code. This public interest is usually satisfied by preventing a continuation or repetition of the offence on the same victim.
Some variations on the ordinary crime of assault include:
Assault: The offence is defined by section 265 of the Code.
Assault with a weapon: Section 267(a) of the Code.
Assault causing bodily harm: Section 267(b) of the Code.
Aggravated assault: Section 268 of the Code.
Assaulting a peace officer, etc.: Section 270 of the Code.
Sexual assault: Section 271 of the Code.
Sexual assault with a weapon or threats or causing bodily harm: Section 272 of the Code.
Aggravated sexual assault: See aggravated sexual assault.
Ancient Greece
Assault in Ancient Greece was normally termed hubris. Contrary to modern usage, the term did not have the extended connotation of overweening pride, self-confidence or arrogance, often resulting in fatal retribution. In Ancient Greece, "hubris" referred to actions which, intentionally or not, shamed and humiliated the victim, and frequently the perpetrator as well. It was most evident in the public and private actions of the powerful and rich.
Violations of the law against hubris included, what would today be termed, assault and battery; sexual crimes ranging from forcible rape of women or children to consensual but improper activities; or the theft of public or sacred property. Two well-known cases are found in the speeches of Demosthenes, a prominent statesman and orator in ancient Greece. These two examples occurred when first, in addition to other acts of violence, Meidias allegedly punched Demosthenes in the face in the theater (Against Meidias), and second (Against Konon), when the defendant allegedly severely beat him.
Hubris, though not specifically defined, was a legal term and was considered a crime in classical Athens. It was also considered the greatest sin of the ancient Greek world. That was so because it not only was proof of excessive pride, but also resulted in violent acts by or to those involved. The category of acts constituting hubris for the ancient Greeks apparently broadened from the original specific reference to mutilation of a corpse, or a humiliation of a defeated foe, or irreverent, "outrageous treatment", in general.
The meaning was eventually further generalized in its modern English usage to apply to any outrageous act or exhibition of pride or disregard for basic moral laws. Such an act may be referred to as an "act of hubris", or the person committing the act may be said to be hubristic. Atë, Greek for 'ruin, folly, delusion', is the action performed by the hero, usually because of their hubris, or great pride, that leads to their death or downfall.
Crucial to this definition are the ancient Greek concepts of honor (timē) and shame. The concept of timē included not only the exaltation of the one receiving honor, but also the shaming of the one overcome by the act of hubris. This concept of honor is akin to a zero-sum game. Rush Rehm simplifies this definition to the contemporary concept of "insolence, contempt, and excessive violence".
India
The Indian Penal Code covers the punishments and types of assault in Chapter 16, sections 351 through 358.
Whoever makes any gesture, or any preparation intending or knowing it to be likely that such gesture or preparation will cause any person present to apprehend that he who makes that gesture or preparation is about to use criminal force to that person, is said to commit an assault.
The Code further explains that "mere words do not amount to an assault. But the words which a person uses may give to their gestures or preparation such a meaning as may make those gestures or preparations amount to an assault". Assault is in Indian criminal law an attempt to use criminal force (with criminal force being described in s.350). The attempt itself has been made an offence in India, as in other states.
Nigeria
The Criminal Code Act (chapter 29 of Part V; sections 351 to 365) creates a number of offences of assault. Assault is defined by section 252 of that Act. Assault is a misdemeanor punishable by one year imprisonment; assault with "intent to have carnal knowledge of him or her" or who indecently assaults another, or who commits other more-serious variants of assault (as defined in the Act) are guilty of a felony, and longer prison terms are provided for.
Pacific Islands
Marshall Islands
The offence of assault is created by section 113 of the Criminal Code. A person is guilty of this offence if they unlawfully offer or attempt, with force or violence, to strike, beat, wound, or do bodily harm to, another.
Republic of Ireland
Section 2 of the Non-Fatal Offences against the Person Act 1997 creates the offence of assault, and section 3 of that Act creates the offence of assault causing harm.
South Africa
South African law does not draw the distinction between assault and battery. Assault is a common law crime defined as "unlawfully and intentionally applying force to the person of another, or inspiring a belief in that other that force is immediately to be applied to him". The law also recognises the crime of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, where grievous bodily harm is defined as "harm which in itself is such as seriously to interfere with health". The common law crime of indecent assault was repealed by the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act, 2007, and replaced by a statutory crime of sexual assault.
Sweden
Swedish law does not distinguish between assault and battery in the same what as some common law systems. "Assault", as per chapter 3 article 5 of the Swedish criminal code, is defined as intentionally inflicting "bodily injury, illness or pain on another person or renders them helpless or in some other similar state." The punishment, depending of the degree, may be a fine or imprisonment up to 12 years, in the most severe cases. What may be called assault in other jurisdictions may either be attempted assault, making an unlawful threat (chapter 4 section 5) or molestation (chapter 4 section 7). There are four different degrees of assault; minor assault, assault, gross assault and exceptionally gross assault.
United Kingdom
Piracy with violence
Section 2 of the Piracy Act 1837 provides that it is an offence, amongst other things, for a person, with intent to commit or at the time of or immediately before or immediately after committing the crime of piracy in respect of any ship or vessel, to assault, with intent to murder, any person being on board of or belonging to such ship or vessel.
Assault on an officer of Revenue and Customs
This offence (relating to officers of HMRC) is created by section 32(1) of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005.
Assaulting an immigration officer
This offence is created by section 22(1) of the UK Borders Act 2007.
Assaulting an accredited financial investigator
This section is created by section 453A of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
Assaulting a member of an international joint investigation team
This offence is created by section 57(2) Archived 26 February 2021 at the Wayback Machine of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005.
Attacks on internationally protected persons
Section 1(1)(a) of the Internationally Protected Persons Act 1978 (c.17) makes provision for assault occasioning actual bodily harm or causing injury on "protected persons" (including Heads of State).
Attacks on UN Staff workers
Section 1(2)(a) of the United Nations Personnel Act 1997 (c.13) makes provision for assault causing injury, and section 1(2)(b) makes provision for assault occasioning actual bodily harm, on UN staff.
United States
In the United States, assault may be defined as an attempt to commit a battery. However, the crime of assault can encompass acts in which no battery is intended, but the defendant's act nonetheless creates reasonable fear in others that a battery will occur.
Four elements were required at common law:
The apparent, present ability to carry out;
An unlawful attempt;
To commit a violent injury;
Upon another.
As the criminal law evolved, element one was weakened in most jurisdictions so that a reasonable fear of bodily injury would suffice. These four elements were eventually codified in most states.
The crime of assault generally requires that both the perpetrator and the victim of an assault be a natural person. Thus, unless the attack is directed by a person, an animal attack does not constitute an assault. However, under limited circumstances the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004 treats a fetus as a separate person for the purposes of assault and other violent crimes.
Possible examples of defenses, mitigating circumstances, or failures of proof that may be raised in response to an assault charge include:
Lack of intent: A defendant could argue that since they were drunk, they could not form the specific intent to commit assault. This defense would most likely fail, however, since only involuntary intoxication is accepted as a defense in most American jurisdictions.
Mutual consent: A defendant could also argue that they were engaged in mutually consensual behavior. For example, boxers who are fighting in an organized boxing match and do not significantly deviate from the rules of the sport cannot be charged with assault.