AR Flashcards
Act
What the defendant is ‘doing’, and that conduct must cause the consequence
Omission
What the defendant omits doing (failure to act) or that they are simply ‘being’
The law does not place an obligation to act (‘failure to act’ doesn’t amount to an act’). However, in order to achieve justice there are exceptions to this rule where there is a duty to act/duty of care:
Statutory duty, special relationship, the assumption of care for another, contract of employment, official position, avert danger of one’s own making
State of affairs
When the defendant commits an offence by simply ‘being’ rather than ‘doing’
E.g. having an offensive weapon (s1 of the Prevention of Crime Act 1953) - the defendant doesn’t have to do anything with the weapon, nor does it have to be visible, it is just enough to have it in one’s possession in a public place
Voluntariness and involuntariness
In carrying out the AR, there is a requirement that the defendant must be acting voluntarily, it cannot be as a consequence of a fit or reflec action.
Where voluntary conduct is lacking, there can be no link between the defendant and any subsequent harm.
R v Gibbins and Proctor
Special relationship
The D had a familial duty to have moral and legal duty to care for the child. The intentional neglect of this legal duty resulted in the child’s death.
R v Stone and Dobinson
Assumption of care
DoC was owed as the V was a lodger at the defendant’s house and had close ties to each other
R v Pittwood
Contract of employment
The D had a legal duty to ensure public safety that extended beyond his contract with the railway company
R v Dytham
Official position
The D, a police officer, had a duty of care to all of society, unlike civilians.
R v Miller
Avert danger of one’s own making
The D was responsible for creating the dangerous situation, and the D was under a duty to take action to resolve it once he became aware of the fire
R v Mitchell
Voluntariness
For manslaughter, it is not necessary to prove that the unlawful or dangerous act was specifically directed at, or involved a direct assault/physical impact, upon the victim
R v Larsonneur
Involuntariness
The D was deported against her will, and was charged with the offence of being an illegal alien upon arrival, despite not voluntarily
Hill v Baxter
Devlin J in orbiter dicta gave an example of a driver driving dangerously who is being attacked by a swarm of bees not being liable for the subsequent accident as his actions were not voluntary.
