Serious Crime Bill [HL]

My Lords, if the prosecution proves the ingredients of the offence asit stands, the defendant will be found guilty, even though he personally believed at all times that he was acting reasonably. Under Clause 46, his subjective view is neither here nor there; he needs to go beyond proving that he thought that what he was doing was perfectly reasonable. In the eyes of the judge or jury trying him, he has to establish that it was objectively reasonable for him to act in the way that he did. We are imposing a significant criminal liability—