Omissions Flashcards
(10 cards)
1
Q
What is the general rule
A
- no criminal liability for failing to act
2
Q
When was the general rule that no criminal liability for failing to act
A
- by the House of Lords in Miller
- Diplock said ‘ the conduct of the parabolic priest and Levit on the road to Jericho may have been indeed deplorable, but English law has not so far developed to the stage of treating it as criminal’
3
Q
What are the exceptions to the rule.
Situation in which there may be criminal liability for failure to act
A
- specific statutory common law offences
- where there is a special relationship between
+ parent child
+ married couples
+ doctor patient - contractual duty
- voluntary assumption of responsibility
- creation of a dangerous situation
4
Q
- specific statutory and common law offences
A
- example
+ section 6(6) of the road traffic act 1988
+ ‘ a person commits an offence if without reasonable excuse he fails to comply-operate with a preliminary test in pursuance of a required imposed under this section’
5
Q
- special relationship
- parent child
A
- Gibbons & proctor
+ D lived together with Gibbons 7 year old daughter Nelly and his other children
+ Nelly was kept alone upstairs and was starved to death
6
Q
- special relationship
- married couples
A
- Smith [1979]
7
Q
- special relationship
- doctor patient
A
- Airedale NHS Trust v Bland
+ Bland was a victim of the Hillsborough stadium disaster
+ left in persistent vegetative state - had to be fed and hydrated through a tube
+ after being in this condition for three and a half years, the hospital authority and his parents applied for permission to cease keeping him alive.
8
Q
- contractual duty
A
- Pitwood
+ D was a railway gatekeeper
+ one day he forgot to shut the gate he went for lunch
+ man was killed when a hay-cart was struck by a train
9
Q
- voluntary assumption of responsibility
A
- Gibbins & Proctor
- Stone & Dobinson
+ D’s lived together
+ Stoen younger sister came to live with them
+ she suffered with anorexia and stayed in her room most of the time
+ she died
+ medical evidence showed she had been in urgent need of treatment for days, if not weeks, before her death - Sinclair
+ Sinclair and the V went to a flat owned by Johnson to buy methadone from another man there
+ they injected themselves at 2:30, the V fell unconscious
+ Sinclair stayed with him for most of the afternoon and night
+ both he and Johnson made limited attempts to help the V, ambulance wasnt called until 6:30am the next day
+ V declared dead upon arrival at the hospital
10
Q
- creation of a dangerous situation
A
- Miller
+ Vagrant squatting in an unoccupied house
+ lit a cigarette but fell asleep before finishing it
+ woke up to find mattress he was lying on was smouldering
+ went to another room and went back to sleep
+ house caught fire and he had to be rescued - Evans
+ D gives V some heroin which V self injects
+ V falls unconscious, but D chooses not to call an ambulance
+ V dies
