Acts and Omissions Flashcards
Q: What is AR?
Must show that D:
1. Acted in a particular way
2. Failed to act in a particular way (omission)
3. Brought about a particular state of affairs.
Q: What is classed as a voluntary act?
Reflexive actions are generally not classed as being willed or voluntary
Unexpected onset of a sudden physical impairment eg: severe cramp whilst driving/sleepwalking can also render any linked actions ‘involuntary’
If the onset of the impairment could reasonably have been foreseen (e.g. where someone is prone to blackouts), the defendant’s actions may be said to have been willed in that he/she could have prevented the loss of control or at least avoided the situation (e.g. driving) which allowed the consequences to occur.
Q: What is an omission?
Failure to act. There is no liability for an omission unless the lawful specifically imposes such a duty on a person
Q: In what circumstances have duties to act been created? (DUTY)
Dangerous situation- creation of a dangerous situation by D
Under statue, contract, or public office- D has a DUTY to do something under law, contract or duty as a result of public office he holds (eg: police officer)
Taken it upon himself- to carry out a DUTY then fails to do so.
Young people- where D is in a parental relationship with a child or young person, he then has an obligation to look after their health and welfare.
Case- D in DUTY
D- Miller 1983- tramp went to sleep in a house he was squatting in with a lighted cigarette in his mouth. He awoke to find his mattress on fire. He did not try to put out the fire and instead fell asleep in another room. House caught fire- Miller convicted of arson. When he woke up, he was under a DUTY to act and put the fire out. He had created the dangerous situation.
Case- U in DUTY
Pittwood 1902- Railway crossing guard failed to close the gates at a level crossing (part of his contractual obligations) and a person was subsequently killed by a train.
Case- T in DUTY
Stone 1977- D accepted a duty to care for her partner’s mentally ill sister who subsequently died from neglect
Q: If a duty is established, what must you also prove?
- D has voluntarily omitted to act as required or that he has not done enough to discharge that duty
- If D is unable to act (eg: because someone else has stopped him) or is incapable of doing more because of his own personal limitations, the AR will not be made out.
Eg: if a child is drowning but parent is unable to save them due to an inability to swim (Reid 1992)
Q: What is automatism?
An absence of a fundamental requirement for any criminal offence… the AR!
Criminal conduct must be voluntary and willed- if D have total loss of control over their actions, they cannot be held liable for those actions and there may be grounds to claim a defence of automatism
R v Coley 2013- question is not whether the accused is acting consciously or not but whether is a ‘complete destruction of voluntary control’
What is a voluntary act?
- Act of D must be voluntary.
- Reflexive actions are generally not considered to be voluntary.
- The unexpected onset of a sudden physical impairment, such as severe cramp when driving is unlikely to be considered voluntary.
- Exception: if D knows he has a certain medical condition and more susceptibility eg: to blackouts or fits so that the potential of onset impairment could have been reasonably foreseen and he could have taken measures to prevent his loss of control or to avoid the situation such as not driving
