Also known as: impossible · impossibility of performance
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
A doctrine addressing whether the factual or legal inability to complete a substantive offense provides a defense to charges of attempt, conspiracy, or solicitation. Factual impossibility does not excuse liability when the defendant acts with the required intent and agreement, because the law assesses culpability based on the circumstances as the actor believed them to be. Legal impossibility provides a complete defense to attempt when the intended conduct would not constitute a crime even if fully carried out.
A ground for excusing performance, modifying interests, or terminating obligations when changed circumstances render the original purpose or act impossible as a practical matter. Courts may adjust servitudes or end trusts when the purpose becomes impossible to achieve, sometimes conditioning relief on compensation to affected parties.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
A doctrine addressing whether the factual or legal inability to complete a substantive offense provides a defense to charges of attempt, conspiracy, or solicitation. Factual impossibility does not excuse liability when the defendant acts with the required intent and agreement, because the law assesses culpability based on the circumstances as the actor believed them to be. Legal impossibility provides a complete defense to attempt when the intended conduct would not constitute a crime even if fully carried out.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Idris Ives and Ike Ingram agree to import narcotics into a jurisdiction where the substance has already been seized by undercover agents. They form the agreement and take steps toward the purchase. The government prosecutes them for conspiracy. The factual impossibility of completing the importation does not prevent conviction because the agreement and criminal intent alone establish the offense.
No. At common law a defendant may not invoke factual impossibility as a defense to conspiracy. The agreement and intent to commit the unlawful act remain sufficient for guilt even when external facts make the ultimate objective impossible to accomplish.
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A ground for excusing performance, modifying interests, or terminating obligations when changed circumstances render the original purpose or act impossible as a practical matter. Courts may adjust servitudes or end trusts when the purpose becomes impossible to achieve, sometimes conditioning relief on compensation to affected parties.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Ironclad Industries holds an easement across neighboring land for rail spur access to a now-decommissioned rail line. After the line is removed and the corridor converted to a bus route, Ironclad no longer operates rail service. The servient owner sues to terminate the easement. The court may modify or terminate the servitude because changed conditions make the original rail-access purpose impossible to accomplish in any practical way.
Israel Irving challenges a state legislative map that combines urban and rural districts in a way that dilutes votes on identifiable economic issues. The state moves to dismiss on political-question grounds. The court finds the claim justiciable because measurable population and compactness data supply judicially manageable standards, and none of the six factors rendering a case nonjusticiable, including impossibility of decision without a nonjudicial policy choice, is present.
Isaac Irving creates a trust to fund a specific charitable research program that later becomes unlawful under new regulations. The trustee petitions for termination. The court terminates the trust because the purpose has become impossible to achieve, discharging the trustee from further obligations under the instrument.
A court may modify or terminate a servitude when a post-creation change makes it impossible as a practical matter to accomplish the purpose for which the servitude was created. If modification is not practicable the court may terminate the servitude and may award compensation to beneficiaries.
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The trust terminates to the extent that its purposes have become impossible to achieve. This ground for termination operates in addition to revocation, expiration by terms, or other statutory methods.
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…in Williamson, supra . But the Court's sweeping invalidation of any restrictions on abortion during the first trimester is impossible to justify under that standard, and the conscious weighing of competing factors that the Court's opinion apparently substitutes for the established test is far more appropriate to a…
…between general and punitive damages, it may be that the verdict was wholly an award of one or the other. But it is impossible to know, in view of the general verdict returned. Because of this uncertainty, the judgment must be reversed and the case remanded. Stromberg v. California, 283 U. S. 359, 367-368; Williams…
…welfare of the City." The appellant did not request a variance under this section, although she could have done so. While it is impossible
…requirement to submit to contempt is not without exception. In a limited class of cases, denial of immediate review would render impossible
…parts responsible, although the circumstances clearly pointed to such fact as the cause of the mishap. Can it be said that the impossibility of performance
Iain Irons borrows from Ironwood Capital and signs a mortgage containing a clause that automatically converts the mortgage into a deed if any payment is missed. When Iain defaults, Ironwood claims absolute ownership. The court voids the clause because it makes redemption impossible and therefore constitutes an invalid clog on the equity of redemption.
Idina Iverson receives property by will subject to a clause forbidding any sale or transfer for twenty-five years. When Idina attempts to convey the land to finance medical care, the restraint is challenged. The court invalidates the clause because it would make alienation impossible for a substantial period after the donative transfer.
No. Any agreement that makes redemption impossible or converts the security into an absolute conveyance is void as an invalid clog on the equity of redemption.
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A disabling restraint is invalid if it would make transfer of the interest impossible for any period of time from the date of the donative transfer.
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