elements of crime(ar and causation)

Question 1

What are the 6 examples of Omissions as Actus Reus in the uk

Answer 1

1. A Statutory Duty
2. A Contractual Duty
3. A Duty due to Special Relationship
4. A Duty that was taken on Voluntarily
5. A Duty due to Official position
6. A duty which arises due to a chain events that are set in motion by the D

Question 2

What case is an example of Contractual Duty

Answer 2

R v Pittwood (1902)

Question 3

What case is an example of Duty created due to Special Relationship

Answer 3

R v Gibbins + Proctor (1918)

Question 4

What case is an example of Duty undertaken voluntarily

Answer 4

R v Stone + Dobinson (1977)

Question 5

What case is an example of Duty as a result of Official Position

Answer 5

R v Dytham (1979)

Question 6

What case is an example of Duty due to events set in motion by the Defendant

Answer 6

R v Miller (1983)

Question 7

What happened in R v Pittwood (1902)?

Answer 7

D was employed by a railway company and left a gate open on an active rail line.

This led to a man being hit by a train on his horse + cart

D was found criminally liable as they failed to close the gate and do their duty.

Question 8

What happened in R v Gibbins + Proctor?

Answer 8

A father and step-mother of a seven year old girl neglected and starved her.

They were both charged with Murder.

Question 9

What happened in R v Stone + Dobinson (1977)?

Answer 9

D1 and D2 agreed to house V, who was D1’s elderly sister and was anorexic and bedridden. On at least one occasion D2 cared for V. V later died of malnutrition.

Both D1 and D2 were charged with manslaughter, they both owed a duty of care to V and failed to do so.

Question 10

What happened in R v Dytham (1979)

Answer 10

A police officer witnessed a group of 3 men kicking a drunken man, he refused to intervene and actively claimed to passersby that he was off duty.

He was charged with willfully and without reasonable excuse neglecting to perform his duty and with misconduct in a public office.

Question 11

What happened in R v Miller (1983)?

Answer 11

A man fell asleep in a squat on a mattress with a lit cigarette. Once he woke up to the building on fire he failed to intervene and try to fix the problem.

He couldn’t be charged with arson for the mattress, as it was ruled to be an accident. He was charged with Arson for his failure to take reasonable steps to deal with the fire later on.

Question 12

what are the two elements of a crime

Answer 12

actus reus -physical
mens rea -mental

Question 13

what does actua reus translate to

Answer 13

guilty act

Question 14

what can actus reus be through

Answer 14

an act
a state of affairs
an omission

Question 15

what’s a conduct crime

Answer 15

a crime where the act is prohibited no consequences needed
eg speeding perjury blackmail

Question 16

what’s a consiquence crime

Answer 16

the act is not enough there must also be a consiquence
eg murder assault

Question 17

what happens is the act by d is not voluntary

Answer 17

if d has no control they have not committed actus reus

Question 18

what examples were given in hill v baxter

Answer 18

court gave examples of when a driver could not be in control
heart attack
bees
hit on head by stone

Question 19

what happens in the case of R v mitchell which shows someone’s actions not being voluntary

Answer 19

D told off by man 72
D pushes man who falls into woman (87)
woman falls and dies
D is guilty man isn’t

Question 20

what is a state of affairs crime

Answer 20

when the act is from being something not doing something
eg possession of drugs or weapon

Question 21

what’s an absolute liability case

Answer 21

if you are being something (voluntarily or not) you will be convicted

Question 22

give an example of an absolute liability case and what happened

Answer 22

R v larsonneur
D deported to England against her will
after arrival charges as being an illegal alien
conviction still upheld

Question 23

what’s an omission

Answer 23

failure to forfill a moral obligation

Question 24

what is the normal rule for omissions in the uk

Answer 24

they can not make a person guilty of an offence

Question 25

what’s a good samaritan law

Answer 25

in contries like france and germany a person is responsible for helping others in an emergency situation eg someone drowning

Question 26

what are the problems with the good samaritan law

Answer 26

people can pretend an untrained person can cause more harm what’s an emergency could person at risk

Question 27

what’s a statutory omission

Answer 27

not adhering to a statute eg not reporting an accident by the road traffic act 1988

Question 28

what three things must be proven for consiquence crimes to prove cause

Answer 28

the factual cause the legal cause no break in chain of events

Question 29

how is factual causation proven

Answer 29

‘but for’ test -if the consiquence would have happened anyway then d is not guilty eg r v pagett r v white

Question 30

what happened in r v pagett

Answer 30

man kidnaps girl he uses her a shield and shoots at police police shoot back and kill the girl he’s guilty as if he didn’t shoot the police wouldn’t

Question 31

what’s legal causation

Answer 31

looks at the ‘%’ of the Ds contribution to the consiquence

Question 32

why do you look at legal causation

Answer 32

there could be more than one contributing factor d can be guilty if conducts is more than minimal (de minimis)

Question 33

what happened in R v hughes legal causation

Answer 33

D had no lisence/insurence v driving in wrong side of road d collided with v d had no legal cause so charge quashed

Question 34

what was stated in R v kimsey

Answer 34

D must have more then ‘a slight or trifling link’

Question 35

what’s the think skull rule

Answer 35

D must take their v as they find them

Question 36

what happens in r v blaue think skull rule

Answer 36

D stabbed v v needed blood transfusion v refuse as they were a jehovahs whites v died d convicted of murder wound was fatal and d was still guilty bc of thin skull

Question 37

what is the intervening act knows as in latin

Answer 37

novus actus interveniens

Question 38

what are the three ways the chain of causation can be broken

Answer 38

act of a third party victims own act a natural but unpredictable act

Question 39

how can the actions of a third party break the chain of events

Answer 39

if the actions are unforeseeable and sufficiently independent and serious the chain will break if the actions are foreseeable then no break

Question 40

will medical treatment break the chain

Answer 40

not likely

Question 41

give examples of cases with medical intervention

Answer 41

r v smith r v jordan r v cheshire

Question 42

what happens to the chain if life support is switched off

Answer 42

nothing d is still guilty

Question 43

how can the actions of the victim break the chain of events

Answer 43

if v actions are foreseeable then any injury’s are d fault if the vs actions are unreasonable then d may be found not guilty

Question 44

give examples of cases where the victims own actions are taken into consideration for chain

Answer 44

r v roberts r v williams r v kennedy

Question 45

how can a natural event break the chain of events

Answer 45

if an event cannot be foreseen eg a tsunami the cain may be broken

Question 46

explain the case of r v smith

Answer 46

v and d are fighting D stabs v in lung v is dropped on the way to hospital and given bad artificial respiration v does d still guilty bc stab was the cause

Question 47

explain the case of r v jordan

Answer 47

d stabbed v in stomach v healing well v allergic to antibiotic doc gives v a large does and v die actions of doc were intervening D not guilty for murder

Question 48

explain the case of r v malcharek

Answer 48

d stabbed v v on life support and brain dead life support turned of (v dies) d convicted of murder

Question 49

explain the case of r v roberts

Answer 49

a girl jumped from a car to stop sexual advances girl had injuries d held liable as actions were foreseeable

Question 50

explain the case of r v williams

Answer 50

d picked up hitchhiker v v jumped out of car bc d ‘tried to steal wallet’ v died + d found guilty of manslaughter convictions quashed as v actions were unforeseeable/ not proportional to threat

Question 51

explain the case of r v kennedy

Answer 51

d supplied drug do v v took it themself v died d not liable as self administration broke chain