Sentence:  It is therefore clear that neither the English court nor Cardozo considered the ethics of the <WSD>doctrine of necessity</WSD>. They rejected the doctrine because, in effect, they denied that a state of necessity could ever exist. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A principle whereby a normally criminal act is justified by the necessity of preserving something of greater utilitarian value than that lost or sacrificed; "not to be confused with self-defence".