Non-fatal Offences Flashcards
What is actus Reus?
- Physical element to a crime.
- It must be voluntary.
-If it wasn’t voluntary, they dont satisfy the actus Reus.
Case example for Actus Reus.
Hill v Baxter
- ignored a road sign and crashed.
- convicted of the crime
What are omissions?
Situations where an individual fails to act when he/she is legally obligated to
What is the type of omissions?
Duty undertaken voluntarily
- taking the responsibility to care for someone
Duty to act as D set in motion a chain of events
- creating a dangerous situation
Public duty through official position
Termination of duty
- doctors choosing to stop treating a patient if it’s in the best interest of the patient
Case study for duty undertaken voluntarily
R v stone and dobison
- failed to provide care for elder sister. She died and D was guilty.
Case for duty to act in a motion of a chain of events
R v miller
- his mattress set in fire
- he went into another room
- found guilty of arson as he had a duty to act but didn’t
Case for duty through a official position
R v Dytham
- police officer saw two people fighting
- he chose to ignore it
- failed to act on his duty
Case study for Termination of duty
R v Bland
- victim in a bad state with no chance of improvement
- court said he could terminate his duty of care and not be liable for the death
What is causation?
The action that caused the result/casualty.
What are the two types of causation?
Factual causation
- the ‘but for’ test (would the result have occurred without Ds actions?)
- R v White- put cyanide in mums drink, she died of a heart attack attack before drinking it. D not guilty as she had died before, so the but for test didn’t apply
Legal causation
- Ds actions were the substancial cause and there was no intervening event
- R v Pagett- shoot out with police. Used preg gf as a shield.
What is novus actus intervinus?
An intervening act which breaks the chain of causation, causing them to now be responsible for the injury’s/death
What are the cases for novus actus intervinus- act of a 3rd party?
R v smith- v was stabbed and received bad hospital care. D is still responsible
R v Jordan- Doc gave v med that they were allergic to. They died. Doctor is responsible as the death was due to the medicine
What is the case study for novus actus Reus- victims own actions?
If it is unreasonably forseable (can be predicted) then it doesn’t break the chain of causation.
R V Roberts- d made sexual advances towards v. V jumper out the car. This was reasonably forseable as v was trying to escape. D is guilty.
Case for noveus actus intervinus- unpredictable/ act of god
If the injury or death was due to extreme weather (earthquake, tsunami)
What is the thin skull rule?
If v has a medical condition (ex- brittle bone syndrome) which makes the injury more severe than to a normal person, d is guilty for the full extent.
They must take the victim as they are found
Case study for thin skull rule
R v bleau-
V refused blood transfusion bc of religion, and died. They take the victim as they are found, so d was guilty
What is men’s rea?
The mental element of an offence.
D must have the minimum level of men’s rea for the offence
Assault- act?
S39 criminal justice act 1988
Assault- ar
Cause v to apprehend the infliction of unlawful, unlawful force
Assault- case
R v Constanza- written words satisfy the requirement
Assault- mr
Intention or recklessness as to the assault
Assault- mr cases
Intention- Mohan
Recklessness- Cunningham
Battery- law
S39 criminal justice act 1988
Battery- ar
Application of unlawful force onto another person
