Meanings
- metaphysicshuman sciencesNecessarianism, especially as espoused by Joseph Priestley.
In examining the doctrine of necessity, I shall endeavour to bring what I have to say about the subject into as narrow a compass as possible, and for that purpose the following axioms are premised; as in all sciences, some principles must be taken for granted, else nothing can be proved.
1803, John Dawson, The Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity Briefly Invalidated, page 7 - lawA principle whereby a normally criminal act is justified by the necessity of preserving something of greater utilitarian value than that lost or sacrificed; not to be confused with self-defence.
1995, Bryan A. Garner, necessity, entry in A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage, 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press, page 583, The doctrine of necessity might lead a court to approve a doctor′s decision to perform an illegal, third-trimester abortion in order to save the mother′s life.
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It is therefore clear that neither the English court nor Cardozo considered the ethics of the doctrine of necessity. They rejected the doctrine because, in effect, they denied that a state of necessity could ever exist.
2005, Jerome Hall, General Principles Of Criminal Law, page 434 - governmentThe principle that, in a situation of emergency or exigent circumstance, a state may legitimately act in ways that would normally be illegal.
So Their Lordships, conceding that the Governor General′s actions were unconstitutional, reasoned that those actions might nonetheless be validated on the doctrine of necessity.
2008, Simeon C. R. McIntosh, Kelsen in the “Grenada Court”: Essays on Revolutionary Legality, page 27 - governmentThe principle that the laws, of governance in action, should be deemed valid insofar as they do not contradict the constitution. Validated on the basis that maintenance of government is of greater utilitarian value than maintenance of the law.
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According to the doctrine of necessity, civilization cannot exist without the rule of law. Therefore, the courts cannot tolerate a legal vacuum. The doctrine of necessity holds that the laws of an illegal government must be deemed to be effective to the extent that they do not violate the constitution.
1989, Ian Greene, The Charter of Rights, page 197 - international lawgovernmentThe principle that a state in immediate peril to its existence, from a situation not of its own doing, may in extremis be justified in violating a right of another state.
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1991, Eduardo Jiménez de Aréchaga, Attila Tanzi, Chapter 17: International State Responsibility, Mohammed Bedjaoui (editor), International Law: Achievements and Prospects, UNESCO, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, page 354, The enumeration of situations where the doctrine of necessity has been invoked forms either a catalogue of serious breaches of international law or of cases susceptible of being explained without an appeal to the doctrine of necessity.
Synonyms & antonyms
doctrine of philosophical necessity
principle of preservation of greater utilitarian value
Translations
Polish zasada konieczności, zasada konieczności
- zasada koniecznościlaw: justified normally criminal act
- zasada koniecznościpolitics, law: laws deemed valid when not contradicting the constitution
- zasada koniecznościpolitics, international law: state in peril is justified in violating another state
- zasada koniecznościpolitics, law: principle that the state may legitimately act illegally
Cite this entry
doctrine of necessity. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/doctrine%20of%20necessity
“doctrine of necessity.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/doctrine%20of%20necessity. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “doctrine of necessity,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/doctrine%20of%20necessity.
Source: doctrine of necessity on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.