Negatives Of Strict Liablity

Question 1

What human rights issues are there?

Answer 1

Art.6(2) of the ECHR states that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. This doesn’t allows for this to happen. The ECtHR deemed this to breach this article in Hansen v Denmark 1995, this is because once the prohibited act is proven, D is ‘presumed to be liable’

Question 2

Is it unfair?

Answer 2

Yes, D will be convicted even if they have done all that they can to avoid the prohibited result.
Callow v Tillstone 1900

Question 3

Is it ineffective?

Answer 3

There is no real evidence it deters criminals. The problem is that in many cases the chances of being caught and prosecuted aren’t that high. Even where the offenders are caught, it appears that the usual response of enforcement agencies is a warning letter. It can also be argued that if people know that they are going to be convicted anyway, that the standard of care will be lower.