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LIABILITY FOR OMISSIONS
Robert Hiscocks
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Liability for Omissions
• “An omission, without a duty, will not create an offence”
• R v Wm Smith
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Liability for Omissions: Requirements
• D must have a legal duty to act• He must breach that duty• The breach must cause the offence to
occur• D must have the necessary mens rea for
the offence (where the offence requires mens rea)
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Duty to Act: Statutory Duty
e.g.• Road Traffic Act 1988 s. 170• Terrorism Act 2000 s. 19• Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 s. 330
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Duty to Act
• Public office holdersR v Dytham• Contractual dutyR v Pittwood
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Legal Duty to Act
• Parental dutyR v Gibbins & Proctor• Voluntary assumption of dutyGibbins & ProctorR v InstanR v Stone & Dobinson
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Legal Duty to Act: Creation of Danger
• R v Miller“I see no rational ground for excluding from conduct capable of giving rise to criminal liability, conduct which consists of failing to take measures that lie within one’s power to counteract a danger that one has oneself created, if at the time of such conduct one’s state of mind is such as constitutes a necessary ingredient of the offence.”
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Control over 3rd Parties
• Du Cros v Lambourne
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Withholding Life Saving Treatment
• R v Arthur• Airedale NHS Trust v Bland
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Summary/Reminder
• D must have a legal duty to act• He must breach that duty• The breach must cause the offence to
occur• D must have the necessary mens rea for
the offence (where the offence requires mens rea)