force

law
Also known as: use of force

Learn about this topic in these articles:

criminal liability

  • In criminal law: Mitigating circumstances and other defenses

    …in which the use of force, even deadly force, is excused or justified. The most important body of law in this area is that which relates to self-defense. In general, in Anglo-American law, one may kill an assailant when the killer reasonably believes that he is in imminent peril of…

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definition in warfare

international law

  • Jeremy Bentham
    In international law: Use of force

    The UN Charter prohibits the threat or the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of states or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the Charter; these proscriptions also are part of customary international law. Force…

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libertarianism

  • John Locke
    In libertarianism: Nonaggression axiom

    …protect citizens from the illegitimate use of force. Accordingly, governments may not use force against their own citizens unless doing so is necessary to prevent the illegitimate use of force by one individual or group against another. This prohibition entails that governments may not engage in censorship, military conscription, price…

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Second Persian Gulf War

  • Jeremy Bentham
    In international law: Current trends

    …proposed resolution explicitly authorizing the use of force. Although terrorism is not a new phenomenon, the increasing scale of the destruction it may cause, as well as the use by terrorists of modern forms of communication such as computers and mobile phones, has raised serious new challenges for international law—ones…

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