Actus Reus Flashcards
what is the ‘conduct element’? x3
voluntariness
causation
omission
what is required to prove an act was ‘involuntary’?
total destruction of voluntary control
what is needed in order to establish whether someone was the cause of the action?
factual causation - but for test
legal causation - more than a minimal cause/ chain of causation not broken
what might break the chain of causation?
abnormal natural events
third party intervention
medical treatment
what is required in order for a third party intervention to be seen to break the chain of causation?
third party’s action must be ‘free, deliberate and informed’
Kennedy (No2) 2007
what intervening act will not necessarily break the chain of causation?
the victims reaction to the defendant’s action/omission
what are examples of whether a victim’s reaction has not broken the chain of causation?
R v Roberts - victim jumping out of the car after Ds suggestive remarks
Dhaliwal - victim committing suicide after Ds abusive actions
R v Blaue - victim refusing blood transfusion, as a jehovah’s witness, after being stabbed
what medical intervention case saw no break in the chain of causation?
R v Cheshire
V was shot by D and died of a tracheotomy that was negligently missed by medical staff
what medical intervention case found a break in the chain of causation?
R v Jordan
V was stabbed by D but died 8 days later due to an allergic reaction to antibiotics given to V by the hospital negligently
what case highlighted that the use of voluntary euthanasia would not break the chain of causation?
why?
R v Wallace 2018
acts of V were not random, extraneous events or separate to the conduct and actions of D - the action taken by V was found to be inextricably bound up with Ds actions
what is there no general duty to do in the UK?
no general duty to prevent harm/ save someone
what arguments support the situation of D being liable for an omission to act? x5
statutory duty
contractual duty
third party
continuing to act
creation of a dangerous situation
what criminal damage case highlighted criminal liability for an omission?
R v Miller
failure to put out a fire that a man started in his sleep when he dropped a cigarette
both able and liable to act when he woke up
what gross negligence manslaughter case highlighted criminal liability for an omission?
R v Evans 2009
half sister found liable for not acting when the victim fell into a coma
Evans had created a life-threatening situation and had not acted to negate the danger
(it was not due to the familiar relations that generated this duty)
what case established liability for omissions when responsibility is voluntarily assumed?
R v Gibbins and Proctor 1919
woman, and man, had assumed responsibility for the child as a result of living in a house with it and being supplied with money to pay for it to be fed
what case, not involving a parent or child, established omission liability for the voluntary assumption of responsibility?
what issues were overlooked in the case?
R v Stone / R v Dobinson
liable for manslaughter of Stone’s sister when she died of anorexia nervosa
the defendants had learning difficulties and didn’t fully understand the illness - this wasn’t properly considered in the case
what are examples of statutory duties to act?
failure to provide a breath sample (Road Traffic Act 1988 s.6)
failure to report money laundering (Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 s.330)
failure to report a suspected act of terrorism (Terrorism Act 2000 s.38B)
what is the serious omissions offence under the Terrorism Act 2000 s38B?
the person commits the offence is they aware of info that might prevent the commission of an act of terrorism by securing apprehension, prosecution or conviction of that individual
requirement to disclose of the information asap
defence - if they have reasonable grounds for not disclosing the info
what two cases highlight the flexibility of the notion of an ‘act’ or an ‘omission’?
Airdale NHS Trust v Bland 1993 - turning off life support not found to be an act, instead an omission
Fagan v Commissioner of Met Police 1969 - continual act of battery through omission of not removing car tyre off police officer’s foot
why was the notion of an ‘act’ manipulated in Airdale NHS Trust v Bland 1993?
to issue a declaration for the hospital to turn off the life support of a victim from the Hillsborough disaster who was in PVS
why was the notion of an ‘omission’ manipulated in Fagan v Commissioner of the Met Police 1969?
what was the reasoning
assault cannot be established by an omission to act
court found instead that the continual omission to remove the tyre from the police officers foot was a continuation of battery from when the tyre first went on Vs foot
imposition of MR through the reluctance to remove the wheel and the aggression towards V by D
reasonable person would have recognised need for removal - this suggests intention
what other omission liability case did the Fagan case influence?
what was the reason for liability?
DPP v Santana-Bermudez 2003
continuation of having needles in pockets
‘dishonest assurance about the contents of his pockets, thereby exposed her to a reasonably foreseeable risk of injury which materialised’
what key element of causation for the conduct element was generated in Kennedy (No2)?
why?
there can only be a break in the chain of causation if the actions of the victim are ‘free, deliberate and informed’
requirement of the common law to respect autonomy and free will
what case established the need for intervening third party actions needing to be extraordinary in order to break the chain of causation?
Environmental Agency v Empress Car Co 1999
it was not extraordinary that a third party would release the diesel from the unlocked tanks
How does the principle found in Empress Car Co conflict with the judgement and reasoning in Kennedy (No2)?
does not seem extraordinary that after an individual is supplied with heroine they will use it and potentially give rise to the possibility of overdosing
effect of free will considered in the latter, but not the former
how might it be argued that a drug dealer is liable for the deaths of clients who overdose?
reasonably foreseeable and not extraordinary that an individual may die by virtue of overdosing from the use of illegal drugs
drug dealer assumes a form of responsibility by engaging in the sale of illegal items
