ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the tortious defence of necessity. Necessity can be an ingredient in other defences, like self-defence, or it can be a defence in its own right. Necessity provides a complete defence, so that the defendant does not have to pay compensation. Private necessity is where the defendant acts upon the victim's person or property for the benefit of the defendant. The defendant's response to the danger must be reasonable, which seems to mean both that the response was a reasonable way to behave. An alternative, utilitarian, position, implicit perhaps in the requirement that a defendant act proportionately, is that it is better for society to end up with a net preservation of property. In most cases of best interests intervention, the courts have had to consider the defendant's liability in both crime and tort.
