The examples and perspective in this batter deal primarily with the Northern Hemisphere and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Battery is a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact, distinct from assault which is the act of creating apprehension of such contact. Battery is a specific common law offense, although the term is used more generally to refer to any unlawful offensive physical contact with another person.

Battery is defined at American common law as “any unlawful and or unwanted touching of the person of another by the aggressor, or by a substance put in motion by them”. Specific rules regarding battery vary among different jurisdictions, but some elements remain constant across jurisdictions. Under the US Model Penal Code and in some jurisdictions, there is battery when the actor acts recklessly without specific intent of causing an offensive contact. Battery is typically classified as either simple or aggravated.

Although battery typically occurs in the context of physical altercations, it may also occur under other circumstances, such as in medical cases where a doctor performs a non-consented medical procedure. Battery is not defined in the Canadian Criminal Code. Instead, the Code has an offense of assault, and assault causing bodily harm. Battery is a common law offence within England and Wales. This offence is a crime against autonomy, with more violent crimes such as ABH and GBH being statutory offences under the Offences against the Person Act 1861. As such, even the slightest of touches can amount to an unlawful application of force.