unlawful act manslaughter

Question 1

what is unlawful act manslaughter

Answer 1

where someone is killed when the defendant was in the course of committing another crime

Question 2

what is involuntary manslaughter

Answer 2

occurs when the defendant lacks the mens reaction for murder, they had no intention to kill and may not have any intention to harm the victim

Question 3

what does it have to be to be classed as unlawful act manslaughter

Answer 3

a lesser crime

Question 4

what does it have to be to be an unlawful act manslaughter

Answer 4

-committed was deliberate and criminally unlawful
-committed was dangerous
-committed caused death of the victim

Question 5

what are the four different elements of unlawful act manslaughter

Answer 5

-unlawful act
-dangerous act
-duty causing death
-MR of the unlawful act

Question 6

what is an unlawful act

Answer 6

doing something that isn’t in line with the law

Question 7

what cases related to unlawful act

Answer 7

R v Franklin
R v Lowe

Question 8

what happened in the case R v Franklin

Answer 8

unlawful act must be a crime and not a tort

Question 9

what happened in the case R v Lowe

Answer 9

must be an act and not an omission

Question 10

who decides if the act was dangerous

Answer 10

the jury and test its objectively

Question 11

where can the dangerous act be aimed at

Answer 11

property
not at the victim

Question 12

what case relates to dangerous act

Answer 12

R v Church

Question 13

what happened in the case R v Church

Answer 13

the unlawful act is dangerous if the sober and reasonable man would realise that it would subject the victim to he risk of some harm, all reasonable people must recognise the danger

Question 14

what will need to be explained in lemon 3 duty causing death

Answer 14

factual and legal causation

Question 15

what happens in factual causation

Answer 15

the but for test but for th act happening would the outcome for the victim be the same?

Question 16

What case relates to the but for test

Answer 16

R v White

Question 17

what is legal causation

Answer 17

the chain of causation can be broken if other things affect the death of the victim

Question 18

what are the different things that oddly break the chain of causation

Answer 18

victims own actions
palpably wrong medical treatment
actions of a third party
natural but unpredictable event

Question 19

what are the different tests for legal causation

Answer 19

de minimis test- R v Paggett
operating and substantial cause- R v Smith
novus actus intervenes
thing that don’t break the chain of causation-( thin skull rule, switching off the life support)

Question 20

what is the think skull rule in legal causation

Answer 20

must take the victim as you’ve found them, this means that even if death isn’t reasonably foreseeable the law still considers the defendant liable even if victim suffered from physical or mental conditions

Question 21

what is the mens tea for a unlawful act manslaughter

Answer 21

D only need the mens raw for the unlawful act and not the death

Question 22

what case related to the mens tea of unlawful act manslaughter

Answer 22

DPP v Newbury and jones

Question 23

what happened in the case DPP v Newbury and jones

Answer 23

The defendants were convicted of constructive manslaughter, but they appealed on the grounds that they did not foresee the danger of their actions. The House of Lords dismissed the appeal, emphasising that in constructive manslaughter, the test for whether the unlawful act is likely to cause harm is objective

Question 24

what will be put in the conclusion of unlawful act manslaughter

Answer 24

law commission believed that dangerous test should be subjective and not object
-unlawful acts can var from minor to major- level as blameworthiness therefore it varies