Justifying necessity

Justifying necessity applies where a person infringes one legal interest to protect another from an imminent and otherwise unavoidable danger. In Swiss criminal law, the protected interest must outweigh the interest sacrificed, and the response must be necessary and proportionate. If these conditions are met, the act is lawful, not merely excused. The doctrine is narrow: economic convenience, speculative risks or avoidable dangers do not suffice, and special duties may affect the balancing.