Slide 7: Necessity

Question 1

Question: What does the defense of necessity involve?

Answer 1

Answer: Necessity justifies breaking the law to prevent a greater evil. For example, in the Morris case (1981), an individual grabbed his wife’s neck during a domestic dispute to stop her from jumping out of a moving vehicle. However, it never justifies the intentional killing of another person, as seen in R. v. Dudley and Stephens, where cannibalism was not excused.