Imminent peril, or imminent danger, is an American legal concept that defines the term as "certain danger, immediate, and impending;

menacing Terms such as menacing, brandishment or brandishing refer to criminal offenses in many U.S. states which are generally defined as displaying a weapon with the intent of placing another person in fear of imminent physical injury or death. The term ...

ly close at hand, and threatening." In many states in the US, 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 Deadly force, also known as lethal force, is the use of force that is likely to cause serious bodily injury or death to another person. In most jurisdictions, the use of deadly force is justified only under conditions of extreme necessity a ...

to defend against death or serious injury if they believe they are in imminent peril.Cambridge Dictionary Online
/ref> Raymond L. Middleton, Warden v. Sally Marie McNeil is a California case that espouses this doctrine. The 2012

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Statute A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a legislature. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law (also known as common law) in that they are the expressed wil ...

s lay measurable conditions to determine if the "fear of imminent peril" is reasonable under the law. Both the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...

(ICJ) and the

International Law Commission The International Law Commission (ILC) is a body of experts responsible for helping develop and codify international law. It is composed of 34 individuals recognized for their expertise and qualifications in international law, who are elected by t ...

(ILC) have recognized the

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