Homicide Related Offences Flashcards
Infanticide
What section is infanticide and what is the definition?
Section 178 CA 61
(1) where a women causes the death of any child of hers under the ages of 10 in a manner that accounts to culpable homicide, and where at the time of the offence the balance of her mind was disturbed, by reason of not fully recovered from giving birth to that or any other child, or by reason of the effect of lactation, or by reason of any disorder consequent upon child birth or lactation, to such an extent that she should not be held duly responsible, she is guilty of infanticide and not if murder or MS and is liable to imprisonment for a term
Not exceeding 3 years
Killing of a child must amount to culpable homicide
In the cases of infanticide, the killing of a child must be in a manner that amounts to culpable homicide
As well as establishing that fact what else must be proven?
- The mother’s mind was disturbed as a consequence of birth of that child or another.
Term “consequence” includes their period of lactation
Legal duties
What are legal duties?
- these duties imposed by statue and common law. (S151 - s157)
Vulnerable adult
What does “vulnerable adult” mean?
- a person unable by reason of definition, age, sickness, mental impairment, or any other cause, to withdraw himself or herself from the care or charge of another person.
Necessaries
What are necessaries?
Necessaries of life
- Food
- clothing
- housing
- warmth
- med care
Duty to protect from injury
Duty to take reasonable steps to protect a vulnerable adult or child from injury
Abandoning child under 6
Which section is this and definition?
Section 154 CA61
Everyone is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years who unlawfully abandons or expose any child under the age of 6
Dangerous acts and things
What does section 155 & 156 deal with?
- The duties of people who are doing dangerous acts or are in charge of dangerous things
Omissions that endanger life
What section is this?
Section 157
Duty to avoid omissions dangerous to life
Everyone who undertakes to do any act the omission to do which is or may be dangerous to life is under legal duty to do that act, and is criminally responsible for the consequences of omitting without lawful excuse to discharge that duty
Acceleration of death
That section is this?
Section 164.
Everyone who by any act or omission causes the death of another person kills that person, although the effect of the bodily injury caused to that person was merely to hasten his death while labouring one some disorder or disease arising from some other cause.
Causing death
What sections deal with causing death?
Section 165 & 166
Section 165 - Causing death that may have been prevented
- Everyone who by any act or omission causes the death of another person kills that person, although death from that cause might have been prevented by resorting proper mean.
Section 166 - causing injury the treatment of which causes death.
Everyone who causes another person any bodily injury, in itself, at a dangerous nature, from which death results, kills that person, although the immediate cause of death be treatment, proper or improper, applied in good faith
R v BLAUE
“ Those who use violence must take their victims as they find them”
- liability depends on the men rea not on the victims subsequent actions
Suicide
What sections deal with suicide and suicide pacts?
Section 179 - Aiding and abetting suicide
- Everyone is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years who:
(a) incites, counsels, or procures any person to commit suicide, if that person commits or attempts to commit suicide as a consequence thereof; or
(b) Aids or abets any person in the commission of suicide.
Section 180 - Suicide pact
(1) Everyone who in pursuance of a suicide pact kills any other person is guilty of manslaughter and not of murder, and is liable accordingly.
(2) where two or more person enter into a suicide pact, and in pursuance of if one or more of them kills themselves, any survivor is guilty of being a petty to a death under suicide pact, contrary to this section and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years; but shall not be convicted of an offence against section 179 of this act.
(3) for the purpose of this section the term suicide pact means;
- a common agreement between two or more persons having for it object the death of all of them, whether it not each is to take his own life; but nothing done by a person who enters into a suicide pact shall be treated as done by him in pursuance of the pact unless it is done while he has the settled intention of dying in pursuance of the pact
Concealment of body of child
What section is the offence of concealing the body of a dead child?
- Section 180
Everyone is liable to imprisonment of a term not exceeding 2 years who disposes of the dead body of any child in any manner with intent to conceal the fact of its birth, enter the child died before, during or after birth,
A child of comparatively recent birth
- while the term “child” is not defined, the provision is evidently intented to refer to a child of comparatively recent birth.
The body must be dead when disposed of, although it is not necessary that the body be found and identified.
