Duty to retreat
| Criminal defenses |
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| Part of the common law series |
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| Other common law areas |
| Portals |
In law, the duty to retreat, or requirement of safe retreat,: 550 is a legal requirement in some jurisdictions that a threatened person cannot harm another in self-defense (especially lethal force) when it is possible instead to retreat to a place of safety.: 549–554 This requirement contrasts with some other jurisdictions to stand one's ground, meaning being allowed to defend one's self instead of retreating.
It is a specific component which sometimes appears in the criminal defense of self-defense, and which must be addressed if criminal defendants are to prove that their conduct was justified. Depending on the state the criminal defendants have to prove a minimal time period of safe retreat.