Introduction to Criminal LawSheet 112/06/09

Offences against the state, or society in general.

So serious that the state is obliged to take action against the accused. 

If convicted, an offender is subject to punishment rather than paying just some form of compensation.

In a Criminal case a defendant can be found "guilty" in a civil case (e.g. contract or tort) a defendant can be found "liable".

Note the Burden of Proof

In a Criminal case, guilt must be established beyond reasonable doubt. In Civil cases, liability is determined on the balance of probability

Elements of a crime

Most crimes require two elements(1) The actus reus - a prohibited action.(2) The mens rea – a guilty mind (this can be either intentional or reckless).

An example.

If I raise my hand - to scratch my head - and hit Bem, I display the actus reus of battery. But, do I have the necessary mens rea?

Suppose D throws a stone (the actus reus) with the intention of hitting Tom (mens rea), but instead breaks the window of a building.

What crime could be, or has been, committed?

Strict Liability offences

There are some cases which are an exemption to the general rule that there must be both actus reus and mens rea. These are crimes of strict liability. Some offences can be committed by the actus reus alone, without the need to show mens rea. A few day to day examples arte listed below; however we will look at this in more detail later into the year.

Parking on a yellow line. Speeding. Possession of Drugs.

ACTUS REUSPhysical

MENS REAMental element

OFFENCE + =

Standard and Burden of Proof

The prosecution has to prove the case against the defendant. The standard of proof in criminal cases has to be ‘beyond reasonable doubt’. The judge will tell the jury to find the defendant guilty only if they are satisfied on the evidence, that they are sure of the defendant’s guilt.

Civil cases only have to be proved on the balance of probabilities. The reasons why this is higher in criminal cases is due to the punishments associated and the fact the defendant could lose his freedom.

Presumption of Innocence

An accused person is described as innocent until proven guilty. The burden is on the …………………………… to prove the case. This means that it must prove that both the required actus reus and the required mens rea. An important case on these principles is Woolmington (1935). The decision in this case made several important points which the house of lords regarded as fixed matters on English law. Theses were:

The prosecution must prove the case This rule applies to all criminal cases The rule must be applied in any court

where there is a criminal trial Guilt must be proved beyond reasonable

doubt Reasonable doubt can be raised by

evidence from either the prosecution or the defense.

Raising a Defense

If the defendant raises a defense, it is then for the prosecution to disprove the defense. In the Woolmington case the defendant stated that the gun went off accidentally. The prosecution was obliged to disprove this if the defendant was to be found guilty.

Actus Reus

As you already know actus reus is the physical element to committing a crime, it can be:

An act A failure to act (omission) A state of affairs

In most cases it will be something that the defendant does, however, in some cases it can be due to a failure to act.

Voluntary nature of actus reus

The act or omission must be voluntary on behalf of the defendant. If the defendant has no control over his actions then no offence has been committed.

If you were driving on the motorway and a swarm of bees stung you, have you committed actus reus?

If you pushed someone off the chair and they hit someone else has the person who hit someone committed actus reus?

State of Affairs

There have been instances where people have been convicted even though that acted involuntarily. See the case opposite.

Omission of actus reus

The normal rule is that an omission cannot make a person guilty of an offence.

“a sees B drowning and is able to save him by holding out his hand. A abstains from doing so in order that B may be drowned. A has committed no offence.”

Do you agree with this statement?

Task

Discuss the case below and feed back with your thoughts.

Good Samaritan Law

In some other countries there is a which is called the good Samaritan law. This means that a person is responsible for helping others in an emergency situation, even though they are complete strangers.

This does not occur in this country due to some flaws and people taking advantage of the law.

'No prosecutions' over Diana crash

The Mercedes carrying the princess crashed in a Paris tunnel

The investigation into the car crash that killed Diana, Princess of Wales has concluded that no-one should face criminal charges, according to press reports.

The official report, which follows a 16-month inquiry, has absolved staff at the Ritz Hotel in Paris of any blame and lifted manslaughter charges against nine French press photographers and one despatch rider, the Sunday Mirror

says.

It says the report concludes that the chauffeur, Henri Paul, was largely to blame and the crash was a result of "excess speed" and "poor control of the vehicle by the driver".

It adds that the inquiry judge, Herve Stephan, has decided that three of the paparazzi pursuing the Mercedes before it crashed in a Paris underpass should be charged under France's "Good Samaritan" laws - for allegedly taking pictures of the aftermath of the crash instead of helping.

The report confirms that the Mercedes hit a white Fiat Uno just before the accident - a "simple brush", the newspaper says.

The princess was killed in the crash on 31 August 1997. Her companion, Dodi Fayed, was killed instantly, as was Henri Paul, who had been deputed to drive the couple away from the Ritz Hotel.

The only survivor was Dodi Fayed's bodyguard, Trevor Rees Jones, who suffered serious face and back injuries.

Judge Stephan's first act in the inquiry was to place the pursuing paparazzi on notice of manslaughter charges. But as the investigation went on, suggestions that the photographers had directly caused the car to crash receded.

The report is to be submitted to lawyers involved in the case later this month - with more inquiry interviews to be conducted before it is handed over.

Then there will be several weeks in which the lawyers can challenge any of the findings before the report can be released.

The "Good Samaritan" law

French law has an additional negligence clause. When Diana, Princess of Wales, died in a car crash in Paris, prosecutors decided to bring manslaughter charges against the press photographers on the scene.

The charges were later dropped, but the case highlighted the "Good Samaritan" aspect of French law, which requires people to help or summon help for someone in danger, unless they would be placed in danger themselves.

There was speculation that the photographers could therefore be charged for allegedly taking pictures in the aftermath of the crash, instead of helping the victims.

Bringing a case of criminal negligence, especially involving the death of children, can be a contentious issue.

As in this case, there are usually no winners, only losers.

Exceptions to the rule

The crash has been the subject of much speculation

Elizabeth Bee (l) died on a boating trip with her twin sister (r) Victoria

An omission is only sufficient for the actus reus where there is a duty to act. There are six ways in which a duty can exist:

A statutory duty A contractual duty A duty because of a relationship A duty which has been taken voluntarily A duty through ones official position A duty because the defendant is set in motion of a chain of events.

Task

Working in your law teams you must match the case with the duty in which the act has occurred.You should each cut these out and paste them onto the template provided.

A statutory duty A contractual duty

A duty because of a relationship A duty which has been taken voluntarily

A duty through ones official position A duty because the defendant is set in motion of a chain of events.

Key Facts

The table opposite shows the keys facts and cases of when and omission can be actus reas.

Involuntary Manslaughter and omissions

There are two ways of committing involuntary manslaughter, these are:

Unlawful act manslaughter Gross negligence manslaughter

Unlawful act manslaughter cannot be committed by an omission, there must be an act. This was decided in Lowe (1973)

However, gross negligence manslaughter can be committed by an omission. It could be argued that Lowe should have been convicted of this because

he owed the child a duty of care and he failed to get help. This idea was seen in the case of Stone v Dobinson (1977) (above). We will look at involuntary manslaughter in a lot more detail later in the year.

Plenary Questions

1. What is an omission of actus reus?

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2. What happened in the case of Gibbins v Proctor (1918)

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3. What happened in the case of Lowe (1973) with regards to involuntary manslaughter

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4. What are the six ways in which a duty can exist?

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