General Principles Flashcards
Features of actus reus
- Conduct
- Circumstances
- Consequences
Principle types of mens Rea
- Intention
- Reckless
- Negligence
Duty to act
- Statutory duty
- Special relationship - Gibbons and Proctor
- Public Office - Dytham
- Voluntary assumption of responsibility - Stone and Dobson
- Creation of a dangerous situation - Miller
- Contractual duty - Pittwood
Requirements for actus reus and mens rea to coincide
- Both must be present at the same time for a crime to be committed.
- Concept of a continuing act
- Mens rea does not have to be present throughout it can be at the beginning (Fagan v MPC)
Transferred Malice
Intended to commit a similar crime against a different victim
Latimer 1886
Mens rea
State of mind
Oblique intention
Result is not D’s aim or purpose but it is virtually certain to occur if D succeeds in achieving his aim/purpose.
D foresees that the eventual result is virtually certain
Nedrick
Woollin
Direct intention
Result is D’s aim/purpose
Objective recklessness
D takes an unjustifiable risk that is obvious to a reasonable person
Subjective recklessness
D takes a risk which he himself realises is unjustifiable
Recklessness
Basic intent offence
Now only one type of recklessness
R v G
Need to establish in order to prove …
- Factual and legal causation
- Factual - ‘but for’ test (White)
- Legal - operating and substantial cause (Blaue)
- D’s actions need to be sole cause (Pagett)
Intervening Acts
- Victim interventions
- Natural disasters
- 3rd party interventions
- Medical Interventions
Possible breaks in chain of causation
- Refusal of treatment/aggravation of injuries (Blaue)
- ‘Thin skull’ rule (Dhaliwal)
- Injuries resulted from an attempted escape (Roberts)
- Negligent/poor or inappropriate medical treatment (Jordan) - does not normally break the chain of causation
Nature of criminal law
Punishes conduct which is considered to be contrary to the interest of society
Strict liability offences justifiable
- Comply with regulatory regulations
- Little stigma attached
- Proving fault will sometimes be almost impossible
- Save court time and public money
Factual causation
Necessary to establish causation
Determined by the ‘but for’ test.
But for the actions of the defendant, would the outcome be the same
White
Legal causation
Essential in finding liability for result crimes
Defined as ‘operating and substantial cause’ (Smith)
Includes the thin skill rule (Pagett)
- must be more than minimal
- need not be sole cause
- significant contribution
- reasonably foreseeable
Requirements for criminal liability
- actus reus
- mens rea
- no lawful defence
Strict liability
Exception to the general rule requiring mens rea in relation to all aspects of the actus reus
Strict liability examples
- preparation and sale of alcohol, food and pharmaceutical products
- road traffic offences
- pollution
- health and safety at work
- construction and trade descriptions
