Section 31(3) of the Criminal Code (WA) contains only an objective requirement of reasonable necessity and does not require a jury to assess the defence by reference to a person of ordinary firmness of mind and will, or by reference to the personal characteristics (race, gender, maturity) of the accused. The common law of duress should not be imported into the statutory provision. A trial judge directing on s 31(3) need only direct the jury to consider whether, in all the circumstances, the accused's act was reasonably necessary to resist the threatened violence.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 7 later cases that cite this judgment.
2 of the 7 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.