Enact a self-defence law that requires the accused to believe that the use of force is necessary, but requires only that the degree of violence used by the accused be reasonable, not objectively necessary or proportionate. Enact a statutory list of considerations going to “reasonableness” in cases where the accused or the person protected was subjected to a pattern of coercive control, violence, threats and or abuse. This list must include both systemic issues, as highlighted in Malott, and consideration of the particular features of the accused’s experience, as set out above. Require that the reasonableness of the accused’s belief regarding the need to use force and the degree of violence that is needed be assessed from the standpoint of the ordinary, sober person. Draft a self-defence law that disqualifies an accused’s belief in the need to invoke defensive violence or the degree of force used as unreasonable only where it constitutes a marked departure from the beliefs or force used by the reasonable person, consistent with s. 15 of the Charter. Abolish the “excessive force” limitation and instead rely on a thorough determination of “reasonableness”, as discussed in Recommendation #18. Draft a defence that can be used to defend against violence or threats of violence and that is available with respect to the commission of all offences involving violence. Qualify the defence by reference to assaults that are "unavoidable in the sense that the accused could not otherwise guarantee her or another’s safety, rendering defensive violence necessary".

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