justified killing
Legally sanctioned death
Justified killing is the taking of a human life under circumstances that make it legally or morally permissible rather than criminal.
The term appears in discussions of self-defense, warfare, capital punishment, and euthanasia—contexts where killing may be sanctioned by law or ethics: The jury found the shooting to be a justified killing.
What counts as justified varies across legal systems, cultures, and moral frameworks.
- self-defenseProtecting oneself from harm
- castle doctrineRight to defend home forcefully
- executionCompleting a planned task
- death penaltyLegal execution for crimes
- crime of passionImpulsive violent act from emotion
heat of the moment · warfare · act of war · lethal · vengeance · eye for an eye · retribution · capital punishment · euthanasia · combat · soldier · assassin · in cold blood · vigilante · defense · protect · necessary · lawful
justified killingmurder
Deliberate unlawful killing
unlawful killing · premeditated murder · war crime · atrocity · massacre
justified killingmurder
Deliberate unlawful killing
sin · crime against humanity · wrongdoing · atrocity · barbarism
justified killingexcessive force
Unwarranted severity in restraint
disproportionate response · gratuitous violence · overkill · killing spree · rampage
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