Homicide-Related offences Flashcards
Infanticide
178
Infanticide
(1) Where a woman causes the death of any child of hers under the age of 10 years in a manner that amounts to culpable homicide, and where at the time of the offence the balance of her mind was disturbed, by reason of her not having fully recovered from the effect of
- giving birth to that or any other child
- lactation
- any disorder consequent upon childbirth or lactation
to such an extent that she should not be held fully responsible, she is guilty of infanticide, and not of murder or manslaughter, and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years.
In charges of infanticide, it is for the jury to decide
on the mother’s state of mind.
Sections 151, 152 and 153 concern the duty to….
provide those things and conditions necessary to sustain life and protect from injury. Death resulting from failure to meet the legal duty to provide the necessities of life and or protection form injury can amount to homicide.
Duty to provide the necessaries and protect from injury
151
Duty to provide the necessaries and protect from injury
(1) Every one who has actual care or charge of a person who is a vulnerable adult and who is unable to provide himself or herself with necessaries is under a legal duty—
(a) to provide that person with necessaries; and
(b) to take reasonable steps to protect that person from injury
Duty of parent or guardian to provide necessaries and protect from injury
152
Duty of parent or guardian to provide necessaries and protect from injury
(1) Every one who is a parent, or is a person in place of a parent, who has actual care or charge of a child under the age of 18 years is under a legal duty—
(a) to provide that child with necessaries; and
(b) to take reasonable steps to protect that child from injury
Duty of employers to provide necessaries
153
Duty of employers to provide necessaries
(1) Every one who as employer has contracted to provide necessary food, clothing, or lodging for any servant or apprentice under the age of 16 years is under a legal duty to provide the same, and is criminally responsible for omitting without lawful excuse to perform such duty if the death of that servant or apprentice is caused, or if his life is endangered or his health permanently injured, by such omission
Vulnerable adult
Means “a person unable, by reason of detention, age, sickness, mental impairment, or any other cause, to withdraw himself or herself from the care or charge of another person”.
Whether an adult is vulnerable is a matter for
objective determination and should not depend on that person’s subjective perception.
Necessaries
There is no authority on what is meant by the concept of “necessaries” and may be regarded as a “somewhat broader concept” than “necessaries of life”.
Under 151, s152 and s153 what does injury encompass?
“injury” encompasses not only bodily harm directly caused by other persons but also harm arising from human activities and non-human sources.
Abandoning child under 6
154
Abandoning child under 6
Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years who unlawfully abandons or exposes any child under the age of 6 years.
Sections 155 and 156, respectively, deal with the duties of people who
are doing dangerous acts or who are in charge of dangerous things.
Duty of persons doing dangerous acts
155
Duty of persons doing dangerous acts
Every one who undertakes (except in case of necessity) to administer surgical or medical treatment, or to do any other lawful act the doing of which is or may be dangerous to life, is under a legal duty to have and to use reasonable knowledge, skill, and care in doing any such act, and is criminally responsible for the consequences of omitting without lawful excuse to discharge that duty.
Duty of persons in charge of dangerous things
156
Duty of persons in charge of dangerous things
Every one who has in his charge or under his control anything whatever, whether animate or inanimate, or who erects, makes, operates, or maintains anything whatever, which, in the absence of precaution or care, may endanger human life is under a legal duty to take reasonable precautions against and to use reasonable care to avoid such danger, and is criminally responsible for the consequences of omitting without lawful excuse to discharge that duty.
Duty to avoid omissions dangerous to life
157
Duty to avoid omissions dangerous to life
Every one who undertakes to do any act the omission to do which is or may be dangerous to life is under a legal duty to do that act, and is criminally responsible for the consequences of omitting without lawful excuse to discharge that duty
Killing by influence on the mind
163
Killing by influence on the mind
No one is criminally responsible for the killing of another by any influence on the mind alone or by any disorder or disease arising from such influence, except by wilfully frightening a child under the age of 16 years or a sick person
Acceleration of death
164
Acceleration of death
Every one 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 under some disorder or disease arising from some other cause.
Causing death that might have been prevented
165
Causing death that might have been prevented
Every one 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 to proper means.
Causing injury the treatment of which causes death
166
Causing injury the treatment of which causes death
Every one who causes to another person any bodily injury, in itself of 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.
Is the withdrawal of life support treatment?
No
What is Novus acus Interviens
An intervening act that breaks the chain of causation
What are the two rules that relate to when an injury must remain a substantial cause of death?
- death resulting from any normal treatment employed to deal with a felonious injury may be regarded as caused by the injury;
- in other circumstances, it is a question of fact to establish a causal connection between the death and the felonious injury;
Example of s166
It was necessary to operate on a person as a result of an assault on him by the defendant. The person died under the administration of anaesthetic. It was held that this did not affect the defendant’s criminal responsibility
Aiding and abetting suicide
179
Aiding and abetting suicide
Every one 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 in consequence thereof; or
(b) Aids or abets any person in the commission of suicide.
Suicide pact
180
Suicide pact
(1) Every one 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 2 or more persons enter into a suicide pact, and in pursuance of it one or more of them kills himself, any survivor is guilty of being a party to a death under a suicide pact contrary to this subsection and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years; but he shall not be convicted of an offence against section 179 of this Act.
(3) For the purposes of this section the term suicide pact means a common agreement between 2 or more persons having for its object the death of all of them, whether or 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.
Concealing dead body of child
181
Concealing dead body of child
Every one is liable to imprisonment for 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, whether the child died before, or during, or after birth.
Child
While the term “child” is not defined, the provision is evidently intended to refer to a child of comparatively recent birth
The requirement that the act of disposal must be done with the intent of concealing the fact of birth may be satisfied even though the birth was known to some people but not others. Thus it will be enough that
the intent was to conceal the birth from a particular individual.
Examples of “anything whatever” under s156
motor vehicles, trains, animals, ships, weapons, machinery explosives
