Core Principles of Criminal Law Flashcards
What makes up criminal liability?
Actus reus
Mens rea
Absence of a valid defence
What kind of crimes require causation as part of the Actus Reus?
Result crimes - murder, manslaughter, criminal damage, assault occasioning ABH
What two elements of causation must be proven?
Factual and legal causation
How is factual causation understood in criminal law?
But for the acts or omissions of the accused, would the relevant consequence have occurred in the way that it did?
How is legal causation understood in criminal law?
Is the defendant the “operating and substantial” cause of the prohibited consequence?
Must be the substantial cause of the prohibited harm
Harm must be caused by D’s culpable act
D’s act need not be the only cause of the prohibited consequence
Legal causation: how will the court approach medical negligence?
Medical negligence will only break the chain of causation if it is ‘so overwhelming as to make the original wound merely part of the history’
Overall - courts reluctant to allow medical malpractice to break the chain of causation
Legal causation: how will the court approach acts of third parties?
Acts of a third party only are a break if they are free deliberate and informed
Legal causation: how will the court approach acts of the victim?
Fright and flight: Was the escape foreseeable by the reasonable person? Must be ‘so daft’ that the reasonable man person would not foresee it.
Jury considers this with the same knowledge D has at the time they committed the act.
Legal causation: how will the court approach the refusal of medical treatment?
Refusal to have medical treatment is NOT a NAI - you must take a defendant as you find them.
Does not matter if a wound is instantly mortal, or if it becomes a cause of death after the refusal of treatment - still is the wound that causes the death
Were original wounds the operating and significant cause of death?
When will suicide not break the chain of causation?
The victim nonetheless dies form the original wound
The act was reasonably foreseeable (e.g. sportsperson loses leg)
D’s unlawful act was a significant and operating cause of death and it was reasonably foreseeable that the victim would die by suicide as a result of V’s injuries
When will suicide break the chain of causation?
Injuries inflicted originally have healed
Voluntary and informed decision of the victim
Legal causation: how will the court approach the thin skull rule?
D must take victim as they find them - does not break the chain of causation
Legal causation: how will the court approach natural events?
Natural events should be extraordinary
What is the general rule about criminal liability for omissions?
No criminal liability as there is no general duty to act to prevent harm
Liability for omissions: when are you liable under statutory duty?
When statutes include specific offences of omission e.g. not giving a breath sample when driving
Liability for omissions: when are you liable via a special relationship?
Spouses, parents and children, doctors and patients
E.g. failing to seek medical advice / support
Liability for omissions: when have you assumed a duty of care?
Voluntary assumption of duty:
Looking after a sick person, special relationship
Liability for omissions: when do you have a contractual relationship?
Under contract e.g. of employment to undertake a specific task
When are you liable for an omission by creating a dangerous situation?
Must take reasonable steps to end the dangerous situation
When is a public office holder liable by omission?
Example: police officer seeing a crime and ignoring it
How is the mens rea of intention understood?
Direct intention - the aim or purpose of D’s act
Indirect / oblique intention - where D does something manifestly dangerous and someone dies or is injured but this was not their intention
How is the mens rea of recklessness understood?
Where someone takes an unjustifiable risk
What is the test for oblique intention?
Was death or serious bodily harm a virtual certainty as a result of the defendant’s action, and did the defendant appreciate that this was the case?
When is oblique intention to be applied?
In rare circumstances, when intention is the only form of means rea available for the offence.
