Actus Reus I (Includes omissions) & Actus Reus II

Question 1

What is meant by the term “Actus Reus”

Answer 1

The external element of a crime, the conduct or physical action, its result and the surrounding circumstances

Question 2

Distinguish between conduct crimes and result crimes.

Answer 2

• Conduct crimes criminalise an act – e.g. dangerous driving, possession of firearms
• Result crimes criminalise the consequences of an act – e.g. dangerous driving causing death, murder

Question 3

What can be included in the Actus Reus?

Answer 3

1. Acts of the defendant
2. Consequences e.g. actus reus of murder includes death
3. Circumstances surrounding the defendant’s actions – e.g. capital murder – Were they a protected officeholder? Were they on duty?
4. May include a failure to act

Question 4

What is the general rule for omissions?

Answer 4

The law does not criminalise omissions (failures to act)

Question 5

What are the two main authorities on omissions?

Answer 5

Stephen and Lowe
- Stephen - Drowning child
- Philimore LJ in R v Lowe - Striking a child vs omission causing death of child

Question 6

What are the 6 sets of circumstances in which an omission may give rise to liability and what are the relevant cases/legislation for each set of circumstances?

Answer 6

(i) Special relationship between accused and victim (ii) Voluntary assumption of responsibility - R v Nicholls [1874]; R v Gibbins and Proctor (1919) 13 Cr App R 134; R v Stone and Dobinson [1977] 2 All ER 341

(iii) Creation of a danger - R v Miller [1983?]

(iv) Duty under contract - R v Pittwood

(v) Misconduct of an officer of justice - R v Dytham

(vi) Statutory duty to act

Question 7

What was Darling J’s rationale in R v Gibbins and Proctor?

Answer 7

Gibbins - Lived in the house and blood relationship - Neglect
Proctor - Voluntarily assumed responsibility for Nellie Gibbins - Received money to feed the child, obligation to look after her and obtain necessary medical attention; in practice was Gibbin’s wife

Question 8

What was Geoffrey Lane LJ’s rationale in R v Stone and Dobinson?

Answer 8

Stone - Blood relationship with the deceased
Dobinson - Voluntary assumption of responsibility - Washing, food, tried to get a doctor

Question 9

DPP v Joel

Answer 9

See case note

Question 10

What was the rationale in R v Dytham?

Question 11

What was the significance of DPP v Bartley [1997] (HC)?

Answer 11

Carney J’s obiter comments :
“Credible complaint of felony is made to a policeman, he has no discretion under the Common Law not to investigate it and apprehend a named offender. If doesn’t - Illegal - Can be prosecuted on indictment.”

“Indictable offence at Common Law for a public officer wilfully and without reasonable excuse…to neglect to perform a duty imposed on him either by Common Law or statute. That this is so was most recently confirmed in R v Dytham.” – Approves Dytham so important

Question 12

Give two examples of a statutory duty to act.

Answer 12

• Failure to provide a breath sample to a Garda is punishable by a fine of up to €5,000 or a prison sentence of up to 6 months or both – s 12 of the Road Traffic Act 2010
• Refusal to give an account of your movements if detained under the Offences Against the State Acts an offence punishable by up to 6 months in prison – s 52 of the Offences Against the State Act 1939 – Heaney & McGuinness – Contrary to ECHR

Question 13

What was misprision of a felony? (Abolished in the Criminal Law Act 1997 with the abolition of felonies)

Answer 13

Heaney v Ireland [1996] 1 IR 580 – O’Flaherty J - Concealing or orchestrating the concealment of a felony known to have been committed. Duty to disclose to the proper authorities

Question 14

What are the three withholding information offences brought in since the abolition of misprision of a felony?

Answer 14

1. Section 9(1) of the Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act 1998
2. Section 19(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 2011 (largely economic offences)
3. Section 2(1) of the Criminal Justice (Withholding of Information on Offences against Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012

Question 15

What does Section 9(1) of the Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 say?

Answer 15

Guilty if withhold information which know or believe will be of material assistance in
(a) preventing the commission of a serious offence by another person, or
(b) securing the apprehension, prosecution or conviction of any other person for a serious offence
and fails without reasonable excuse to disclose that information as soon as it is practicable to a member of the Garda Síochána.

Question 16

What does Section 9(2) of the Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 say?

Answer 16

Conviction on indictment - Fine and/or up to 5 year prison sentence

Question 17

How is a “serious offence” defined in Section 8(1) of the 1998 Act?

Answer 17

.— (1) “serious offence” means an offence which satisfies both of the following conditions:

(a) it is an offence for which a person of full age and capacity and not previously convicted may, under or by virtue of any enactment, be punished by imprisonment for a term of 5 years or by a more severe penalty, and

(b) it is an offence that involves loss of human life, serious personal injury (other than injury that constitutes an offence of a sexual nature), false imprisonment or serious loss of or damage to property or a serious risk of any such loss, injury, imprisonment or damage

Question 18

What is the significance of Sweeney v Ireland?

Answer 18

HC - Baker J - Section 9(1)(b) of the 1998 Act unconstitutional - Right to silence and too vague and uncertain
SC - Charleton J - Overruled HC - Not applicable in cases of self-incrimination and ingredients of offence clear

Question 19

What does Section 19(1) of the 2011 Act say?

Answer 19

19.— (1) A person shall be guilty of an offence if he or she has information which he or she knows or believes might be of material assistance in—

(a) preventing the commission by any other person of a relevant offence, or

(b) securing the apprehension, prosecution or conviction of any other person for a relevant offence,

and fails without reasonable excuse to disclose that information as soon as it is practicable to do so to a member of the Garda Síochána.

Question 20

What does Section 19(2) of the 2011 Act say?

Answer 20

19.— (2) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable –

(a) on summary conviction, to a class A fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both, or

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or both

Question 21

What is a “relevant offence” in the 2011 Act?

Answer 21

White collar crime offences listed in Schedule 1 of the Act

Question 22

What does Section 2(1) of the 2012 Act say?

Answer 22

2.— (1) Subject to this section, a person shall be guilty of an offence if—

(a) he or she knows or believes that an offence, that is a Schedule 1 offence, has been committed by another person against a child, and
(b) he or she has information which he or she knows or believes might be of material assistance in securing the apprehension, prosecution or conviction of that other person for that offence, (focus on past offences)
and fails without reasonable excuse to disclose that information as soon as it is practicable to do so to a member of the Garda Síochána.

Question 24

What is the relevance of Section 7 of the 2012 Act?

Answer 24

Provides for penalties for withholding information - Linked to the seriousness of the crime about which information was withheld e.g. Child victim = 10 years, 14 year sentence crime = 7 years such as FGM