Imminent peril, or imminent danger, is an American legal concept where Imminent peril is "certain danger, immediate, and impending;
menacingly close at hand, and threatening." In many states in the USA, a mere necessity for quick action does not constitute an emergency within the doctrine of imminent peril, where the situation calling for the action is one which should reasonably have been anticipated and which the person whose action is called for should have been prepared to meet; the doctrine of imminent peril does not excuse one who has brought about the peril by their own negligence.
Legislation
In California, legislation authorizes a person to use
deadly force to defend against death or serious injury if they believe they are in imminent peril.
[Cambridge Dictionary Online](_blank)
/ref> Raymond L. Middleton, Warden v. Sally Marie McNeil is a California case that espouses this doctrine. The 2012 Florida Statute
A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...
s lay measurable conditions to determine if the "fear of imminent peril" is reasonable under the law. Both the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Law Commission (ILC) have recognized the profound motivations of one's lawful fear of imminent peril and have adopted measures to define consequences, of self-defense against such peril, as reasonable.
Peril
Peril is synonymous
A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...
with danger but lacks the suddenness of the "imminent" qualifier. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulates safety standards for workplaces in the United States. Its charter obligation is to identify dangerous conditions in the workplace with a potential for sudden peril, and to require employers to actively mitigate the risks.Call (800) 321-OSHA immediately to report imminent dangers
United States Department of Labor, retrieved 11/17/2012
See also
*
Castle doctrine
*
Good Samaritan law
*
Emergency exception
*
Exigent circumstance
*
Necessity in Canadian law
*
Rescue doctrine
References
Legal doctrines and principles
Risk
Legal defenses
{{law stub