Definition
- When a threat to initiate nonconsensual physical force against another person or their property is substantial, it constitutes one of the nine forms of aggressing (a valid breach of the Legal Principle).
- When a substantial threat is imminent, the person at risk is always legally entitled to self-defense, and any person may defend another person by using the least amount of force necessary to terminate the threat.
The local community can reasonably define “imminence” and “reasonableness”
- What exactly constitutes “substantial,” “imminent,” or “reasonable” can be designated by individuals to their local communities. Sometimes such matters are best determined by a jury.
- Each of these three terms have gray areas, and the local community is one way to determine the law.