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R v Dudley and Stephens (1884) 14 QBD 273, DC is a leading English criminal case which established a precedent throughout the common law world that necessity is not a defence to a charge of murder. The case concerned survival cannibalism following a shipwreck, and its purported justification on the basis of a custom of the sea. [3]
It is "an exception from illegality and in certain cases even as an exception from responsibility." In order to invoke the doctrine of necessity: [5] The invoking State must not have contributed to the state of necessity, Actions taken were the only way to safeguard an essential interest from grave and impending danger.
When considering necessity in R v Cole (1994) Crim. LR 582 Simon Brown LJ. held that the peril relied on to support the plea of necessity lacked imminence and the degree of directness and immediacy required of the link between the suggested peril and the offence charged. This defendant robbed two building societies in order to repay debts.
Emergency law/right (nødret, nødrett) is the equivalent of necessity in Denmark and Norway.[1] [2] It is considered related to but separate from self-defence.Common legal examples of necessity includes: breaking windows and other objects in order to escape a fire, commandeering a vehicle to serve as an emergency ambulance, ignoring traffic rules while rushing a dying patient to a hospital ...
In tort common law, the defense of necessity gives the state or an individual a privilege to take or use the property of another. A defendant typically invokes the defense of necessity only against the intentional torts of trespass to chattels , trespass to land , or conversion .
The case of R v Dudley and Stephens (1884 14 QBD 273 DC) is an English case that developed a crucial ruling on necessity in modern common law, at the same time ending the custom of lot drawing and cannibalism.
The defence of necessity is an excuse for an illegal act, not a justification for committing the illegal act. The leading case for the defence is Perka v.The Queen [1984] 2 S.C.R. 232 [1] in which Dickson J. described the rationale for the defence as a recognition that:
Opinio juris sive necessitatis ("an opinion of law or necessity") also simply opinio juris ("an opinion of law") is the belief that an action was carried out as a legal obligation. This is in contrast to an action resulting from cognitive reaction or behaviors habitual to an individual.