Necessity

What is Necessity?

The common law defence of necessity operates where circumstances (natural or human threats) bear upon the accused, inducing the accused to break the law to avoid even more dire consequences.

The Accused person bears the evidentiary onus of establishing a basis for a defence of necessity and, thereafter, the Crown bears the onus of negativing the defence beyond reasonable doubt.

The Elements of Necessity

1. The criminal act must have been done in order to avoid certain consequences which would have inflicted irreparable evil upon the accused or upon others whom he or she was bound to protect;
2. The accused must honestly have believed on reasonable grounds that he or she was placed in a situation of imminent peril; and
3. The acts done to avoid the imminent peril must not be out of proportion to the peril to be avoided.

Other Defences

• Claim of right
• Duress
• Honest and reasonable mistake
• Intoxication
• Self-defence