Actus Reus

Actus Reus

Means physical/external element to the act
Three types of actus Reus
1. Voluntary Act
  1. D's conduct has to be voluntary for them to be criminally liable
    1. Bratty v Attorney General for Northern Ireland
      1. An involuntary act is; "An act which is done by the muscles without any control by the mind"
    2. Eg: Sleep walking, Reflex reaction and Epilepsy
  2. Hill v Baxter
    1. 1. Attacked by a swarm of bees
    2. 2. Brick to head, hands will go instinctively to injury
    3. 3. Heart attack, Grabbing your chest.
  3. AR must be proven
    1. D has to bring about the AR to be liable
      1. R v Deller
        No AR because hire agreement was already void.
2. Omission
  1. Means a failure to act
  2. The general rule is, no liability for failure to act - R v Miller
    1. Exception; A person is only liable for an omission if they have a duty to act through CL or statute and fail to do so
  3. There are five duty situation
    1. Contractual
      1. R v Pittwood 1902
        D worked for the railway. A man was killed on the railway line. Guilty of manslaughter. He failed (omitted) to shut the gate
    2. Special Relationship
      1. R v Gibbons and Proctor 1918
        A father and his partner caused the death of his child. Failure to feed
      2. R v Smith - parent liable, spouse not so clear - respect for autonomy.
      3. Gibbins and Proctor, Sheppard, chattaway, Hood (Kenneth).
    3. Voluntarily assuming responsibility
      1. R v Stone and Dobinson 1977
        D and his girlfriend took responsibility to care for his elderly sister. The sister died of neglect.
      2. Instan, Proctor, Sinclair, Ruffell
    4. Public office
      1. R v Dytham
        A police officer watched a fight and a man died. Failed to help a citizen. Failure to keep the Queens peace.
    5. Creating a dangerous situation
      1. R v Miller - A man dropped a lit cigarette and started a fire. A house burned down. Failed to try and put out the fire or phone 99
      2. R v Evans - gemma convicted because created dangerous situation. Had duty because of that
  4. A02
    1. For liability - still blameworthy, social responsiblity. Against - omissions are less culpable. how do we attribute responsbility?
    2. Possible reform - Good Samaritan/duty of easy rescue. Issues - how fair is too far? Should we be endangered when saving another. What happens if rescuer becomes injured. Dont want to put rescuers off in light of possible charges etc, what if in capable of helping? Still charged?
    3. Problems with omissions - line where duty actually exists is unclear. Self determination - patient in medical duty and in situation like Hood.
3. State of affairs
  1. Also known as circumstance crimes
  2. D is guilty just because of the situation they are in. There is no voluntary act.
  3. R v Larsonneur
    1. D got a visa to go to England, her visa ran out so she flew to Ireland was deported and sent to England were she was arrested
      1. Guilty of being an Alien, didn't matter that she was not there voluntarily
  4. Winzar v Chief Constable of Kent
    1. Windsor was drunk. Went into A and E. Irrelevant how he ended up on the road.

Nächster

Beschreibung

Zusammenfassung der Ressource

ähnlicher Inhalt

	Erstellt von Yasmine King vor fast 9 Jahre

	Kopiert von beth1ollerton vor fast 9 Jahre