Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, diagrams, and exercises help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress. This chapter discusses the actus reus elements of a criminal offence. The actus reus of an offence may involve an act or omission (conduct crimes); certain consequences being caused (result crimes); or the existence of surrounding circumstances (‘state of affairs’ crimes); it must be voluntarily performed. There is generally no liability for an omission to act. There are five exceptions: special relationship, voluntary assumption of responsibility, supervening fault, contractual duty or public office, and statutory duty. Where the defendant is charged with a ‘result’ crime, the prosecution must prove causation. An intervening event will break the chain of causation and the actus reus will not be established.
Chapter
Michael J. Allen and Ian Edwards
Course-focused and contextual, Criminal Law provides a succinct overview of the key areas on the law curriculum balanced with thought-provoking contextual discussion. This chapter explains the concept of actus reus. It discusses the elements of crime, defining an actus reus, proving an actus reus, that conduct must be voluntary, state of affairs offences, omissions liability (situations in which a person will be liable for failing to act), causation (including the principles of factual and legal causation), and coincidence in time of actus reus and mens rea. ‘The law in context’ feature analyses critically English law’s approach to liability for causing another person’s suicide.
Chapter
Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, diagrams, and exercises help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress. This chapter discusses the actus reus elements of a criminal offence. The actus reus of an offence may involve an act or omission (conduct crimes); certain consequences being caused (result crimes); or the existence of surrounding circumstances (‘state of affairs’ crimes); it must be voluntarily performed. There is generally no liability for an omission to act. There are five exceptions: special relationship, voluntary assumption of responsibility, supervening fault, contractual duty or public office, and statutory duty. Where the defendant is charged with a ‘result’ crime, the prosecution must prove causation. An intervening event will break the chain of causation and the actus reus will not be established.
Chapter
Titles in the Core Text series take the reader straight to the heart of the subject, providing focused, concise, and reliable guides for students at all levels. This chapter offers a description on the conduct element of a crime. Most crimes need a criminal act. The existence of a state of affairs may be effective to impose liability. The actus reus and the mens rea are the two elements of crimes, the principle of which should be contemporary. The person who commits a crime by through failure to act may be as guilty as the person who acts deliberately. It can be difficult to recognize the difference between an act and an omission. Factual causation must be confirmed that the death would not have occured ‘but for’ the accused’s conduct. This ‘but for’ test often does not appear to be enough on its own, since it can result in the conviction of the morally innocent. Moreover, cases presented reveal the complexity in distinguishing questions of fact (for the jury) and questions of law (for the judge).
Chapter
Philippa Webb
This chapter examines the methods by which States prevent their national courts from deciding disputes that relate to the internal affairs of another State. It considers three main ‘avoidance techniques’: State immunity, act of State, and non-justiciability. It discusses the arguments for and against the current prohibition on the determination of one State’s disputes in the national courts of another State, and identifies the challenges presented by the rule of law, an individual’s right of access to court, and the implementation of jus cogens norms to the maintenance of these avoidance techniques. It concludes with the observation that the pendulum continues to swing between prioritizing sovereignty by protecting the activities of States from judicial scrutiny and calling for greater accountability and remedies for violations of international law.
