title: Necessity, private defence and the killing of Mary.
abstract: This article examines the reasons used by the Court of Appeal in Re A (Children) to authorise and justify an operation which would inevitably kill the weaker of a pair of conjoined twins in order to offer the stronger twin a good chance of a long and happy life. The crux of the judgment was that a utilitarian theory of necessity could justify this operation. This article seeks to define the criminal law defences at issue in the case and to argue that utilitarian necessity is such a dangerous doctrine that it should never be employed if there is any other defence which can be made to serve the same purpose--as there was in the present case.
authors.affiliation: Brunel University, UK.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rogers
mesh_terms: D003416:Criminal Law; D003709:Democracy; D004739:England; D028663:Ethical Theory; D005065:Euthanasia / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005260:Female; D006708:Homicide / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D014428:Twins, Conjoined / Q000601:surgery*; D026712:Value of Life