Caroline dispute Self Defense in Customary International Law case summary

Caroline Incident: self-defence in Customary international law
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On the night of 29 December 1837, the Caroline, an American vessel being used in support of the Canadian rebellion, was cut out by a British force from her berth on the American side of the Niagara River, and sent adrift over the falls, the incident resulting in the death of two American citizens.

Subsequently, in 1841, a British citizen was arrested in New York on a charge of murder under the influence of alcohol, boasted of having taken part in the vessel's destruction. He was ultimately acquitted on proof of an alibi

The two incidents were the subject of lengthy diplomatic exchanges, in the course of which' self-defense was changed from a political excuse to a legal doctrine, it being accepted that urgent necessity, such as had existed here, may justify an incursion into another State's territory in self-defense.

On one side, The UK government claimed that it had acted in self-defense, while on the other side, The American Secretary of State noted that the right of self-defense arises only in cases where there is "necessity of self-defense, instant, overwhelming, leaving no choice of means, and no moment for deliberation" , and also that the act should involve "nothing unreasonable or excessive, since the act justified by the necessity of self-defence must be limited by that necessity, and kept clearly within it