Omissions

Question 1

What are the six exceptions for ‘no liability for failure to act?’

Answer 1

1) Statute says liability is owed (Road Traffic Act)
2) Special Relationship (Gibbens and Proctor)
3) Voluntary assumption of responsibility
4) Contractual Duty (Pitwood)
5) Dangerous situation created (Miller 1983)
6) Misconduct in Public Office

Question 2

What test establishes factual causation?

Answer 2

R v White - the ‘but for’ test

Question 3

Legal Causation

Answer 3

Operating and ‘significant’ cause - R v Smith
Thin Skull Rule - R v Blaue 1975
Novus actus interventions (intervening act)
I. Original harm inflicted by D no longer contributing to occurrence of the eventual result
II. Intervention by 3rd party independent of original wrongdoing
Roberts 1971 - causal link not broken if - V’s conduct is in reaction to D’s wrongdoing and V’s reaction was a reasonably foreseeable possibility