Actus Reus
- Created by: holly_marshall
- Created on: 13-01-16 08:27
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- Actus Reus
- An act, omission or a state of affairs
- Act or omission must be voluntary
- Hill V Baxter, e.g. heart attack whilst driving
- Absolute liability (not voluntary) rare cases - Larsonneur
- Omissions
- General rule - a person cant be guilty of an offence if they fail to act
- Stephen's Digest of the Criminal Law
- Exceptions
- A contractual duty - Pittwood
- Relationship - Gibbins and Proctor
- Voluntarily - Stone and Dobinson
- Ones official position - Dytham
- D has set in motion a chain of events - Miller
- General rule - a person cant be guilty of an offence if they fail to act
- Act or omission must be voluntary
- Causation
- Factual causation - D must be in fact the cause of the consequence
- 'But for test' - R V White
- Legal causation - limits broad factual causation, D must be the cause in law of the consequence
- Operating and Substantial Cause
- The 'Deminimus Rule' - R V Smith
- Thin skull rule - take your victim as you find him
- R V Blaue - blood transfusion
- R V Hayward - unknown condition
- Operating and Substantial Cause
- Novus Actus Interviens
- Can break chain of causation
- The act of a third party
- Usually medical negligence - got to be 'so potent' in its actions and independent of D's act
- R V Jordan - V died of pneumonia in hospital after wounds healed from D - medical is 'so potent'
- R V Smith - D stabbed another soldier, medics failed to diagnose V, D guilty
- Usually medical negligence - got to be 'so potent' in its actions and independent of D's act
- The victims own actions
- If D causes V to act in a foreseeable way, D is guilty of Vs actions
- Roberts - V jumped out Ds car after declining sexual advances, D guilty of Vs injuries
- Williams - V jumped out Ds car, no evidence of robbery, Ds not guilty
- If D causes V to act in a foreseeable way, D is guilty of Vs actions
- A natural or unpredictable event
- The act of a third party
- Can break chain of causation
- Factual causation - D must be in fact the cause of the consequence
- An act, omission or a state of affairs
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