1. Can I defend myself if I am sued?
Defending oneself is the defendant's legal right. He can not only defend himself, but also entrust one or two defenders to defend himself.
Legal basis: Article 32 of the Criminal Procedure Law stipulates that a criminal suspect or defendant may entrust one or two persons as defenders in addition to exercising the right of defense. The following persons may be entrusted as defenders:
(1) lawyers;
(2) A person recommended by a people's organization or the unit to which the criminal suspect or defendant belongs;
(3) Guardians, relatives and friends of criminal suspects and defendants.
Second, the type
According to the provisions of Articles 32, 33 and 34 of the Criminal Procedure Law of People's Republic of China (PRC), there are three kinds of defenses in criminal proceedings in China:
1, self-defense
Self-defense refers to the behavior of criminal suspects and defendants to refute, defend and excuse the charges. The right of self-defense and the right of state prosecution are produced at the same time. Once any citizen is prosecuted and enters criminal proceedings, he automatically enjoys the right to self-defense and carries out the above-mentioned defensive acts. The right of self-defense runs through the whole criminal procedure. Whether in the investigation stage or in the trial stage, criminal suspects and defendants can defend themselves.
2. Entrusted defense
Entrusted defense means that a criminal suspect or defendant entrusts a lawyer or other citizen as a defender to assist him in his defense. According to the provisions of Article 33 of the Criminal Procedure Law, the time when a criminal suspect or defendant entrusts a defender can be divided into two situations:
(1) A criminal suspect has the right to entrust a lawyer as a defender from the day when he is interrogated for the first time by the investigation organ or compulsory measures are taken;
(2) The defendant has the right to entrust a defender at any time.
The above provisions show that the criminal procedure law of our country follows the principle of autonomy of will in choosing defenders for criminal suspects and defendants, that is, whether or not to entrust a defender and who to entrust a defender are up to the criminal suspects and defendants themselves.
3, legal aid defense
Legal aid defense means that the criminal suspect or defendant has not entrusted a defender, and there are legal circumstances, but the legal aid institution appoints a lawyer to defend him. Therefore, legal aid defense is based on the premise that criminal suspects and defendants have not entrusted defenders. If both the suspect and the defendant have entrusted defenders, there is no question of legal aid defense under any circumstances. Article 34 of China's Criminal Procedure Law has made special provisions on the situations and procedures of legal aid defense, which are generally divided into two situations: applying for designated assistance and legally designated assistance.
If the judicial organs find any illegal acts, the parties can also defend their crimes, then the right of defense of the parties is also the legitimate rights and interests given to every citizen by the state. When defending, the defender is also required to submit true and effective evidence to the court. If the litigants have certain financial difficulties, they can also apply for legal aid.