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excuse definition - legal

n

A defense or justification of an individualÂ’s act or failure to act; a defense in criminal law that an individualÂ’s actions cannot constitute a crime because of coercion, or some other cause that places the actions beyond the individualÂ’s volition or control.

Webster's New World Law Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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