Publication at Faculty of Law |
2017
Abstract
The paper focuses on the issue of weighing human lives with a criminal law perspective. It addresses the criminal defence of necessity and its relationship to the most serious crimes of intentional killing occurring in emergency situations.
Under extreme conditions, such as terrorist attacks, individuals are often forced to act under great fear and may therefore act differently than usual in order to protect the lives of themselves and others. The purpose of this paper is to provide the legal background on acting under the defence of necessity when human lives are weighed against each other, from the perspectives of Czech, German, French, and English Law.