Battery (criminal law)

Key elements

Most legal systems require several basic components to establish battery. These commonly include:

• Intent: the actor intended to make contact or acted with knowledge that contact was substantially certain.
• Contact: a physical touching that can be direct or indirect (for example, causing an object to strike someone).
• Harm or offensiveness: the contact was harmful or would be considered offensive by a reasonable person.
• No consent: the contact was not consented to, or consent was invalid.

Criminal-law treatments and element descriptions are discussed in broader legal texts on criminal law.

Types, severity and distinctions

Battery ranges in seriousness from simple battery—often a misdemeanor involving minor harm or offensive touching—to aggravated battery, which can be a felony when serious injury, use of a deadly weapon, or victim vulnerability is involved. Battery is frequently confused with assault: assault typically denotes the threatened or attempted application of force creating apprehension, while battery is the completed touching. Many modern statutes, however, use "assault" to cover both threats and actual contact; see a comparison at assault versus battery resources.

Civil liability and common defenses

Battery can give rise to both criminal prosecution and civil lawsuits for damages; the tort of battery shares similar elements but may have different burdens of proof and remedies. Common defenses include consent, self-defense, defense of others, defense of property (limited), accident, lack of intent, and legal justification. For distinctions between criminal and civil actions, consult materials on criminal and civil liability.

Notable points and practical examples

Historically rooted in common law, battery doctrines have evolved through statutes and case law. The doctrine of transferred intent can apply when a defendant intends harm to one person but injures another. Contact need not cause visible injury to be a battery if it is offensive; throwing an object that strikes someone, spitting on another person, or unwanted medical touching can all meet the definition in many places. Penalties, required proof, and procedural aspects vary, so local statutes and case law guide how battery is charged and punished.