100% satisfaction guarantee Immediately available after payment Both online and in PDF No strings attached
logo-home
Previously searched by you
Previously searched by you
logo
UK Criminal Law - Actus Reus and Mens Rea Study Guide £3.99
Add to cart
Quickly navigate to
Preview
  2.  
  3. OCR
  4.  
  5. Law
  6.  
  7. Unit 3 LAW03 - Criminal Law (Offences against the Person) or Contract Law

Lecture notes

UK Criminal Law - Actus Reus and Mens Rea Study Guide
 0 purchase
  • Institution
  • OCR

This is the Study Guide used in class with my added notes. This includes a summary of all the different sections of Actus Reus and Mens Rea, including cases, judgements and explanations.

Last document update: 3 year ago

Preview 3 out of 18  pages

Document information

  • December 17, 2021
  • December 20, 2021
  • 18
  • 2021/2022
  • Lecture notes
  • Miss barley
  • All classes

Subjects

Written for

All documents for this subject (12)

Seller

avatar-seller
OliKnowsNotes

Content preview

A-
Level
Law:
Crimi
nal
Law
(01)

Topic
1:
Princi
ples
of
Crimi
Name:
Teacher:
nal
Liabil

, ity:

Actus
- Omissio
Reus
ns
(Literal translation = ‘guilty act’)

The actus reus of an offence can be:
 An act
 A failure to act
 A ‘state of affairs’

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


Voluntary
Nature
The ofmust be voluntary on the part of the defendant. If the defendant
act or omission
has no control over his actions then no offence has been committed.
actus reus
Hill v Baxter (1958)

D was behind the wheel of a car when he collided with another vehicle. He had
been overcome by an unknown illness and had fallen unconscious. In this case
the Judge gave examples of where a driver of a vehicle could not be
said to be doing the act of driving voluntarily, e.g.
If a swarm of bees flew through the window and he lost control of his
car and committed an offence, he would not be guilty as the act was
involuntary.

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

, Omissions
as
guilty actus
The general rule is that an omission (failure to do something) cannot make a person
of an offence. This was explained by a 19 century judge who stated:
th


reus
“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.”




Good
Samaritan In some other countries there is a law which is called the
‘Good Samaritan’ law. This makes a person responsible
Law for helping others in an emergency situation, even though
they are complete strangers. We do not have such a law in
the English Legal System. However, France is an example
of a country that does have a ‘Good Samaritan’ law. A
famous example of this ‘Good Samaritan’ law being used in
France was when French journalists took photos of Princess
Diana in the wreckage of her car crash in Paris in 1997
instead of trying to help her.


What problems could arise from introducing a ‘Good Samaritan’ law into the
English Legal System?


 High expectations if you have no medical or first aid training
 Other countries that have this law are not always clear of their
expectations
 How far would you have to go?
 What if you can’t swim and someone is drowning?

The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:

Guaranteed quality through customer reviews

Guaranteed quality through customer reviews

Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.

Quick and easy check-out

Quick and easy check-out

You can quickly pay through credit card for the summaries. There is no membership needed.

Focus on what matters

Focus on what matters

Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!

Frequently asked questions

What do I get when I buy this document?

You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.

Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?

Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.

Who am I buying these notes from?

Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller OliKnowsNotes. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.

Will I be stuck with a subscription?

No, you only buy these notes for £3.99. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.

Can Stuvia be trusted?

4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)

64670 documents were sold in the last 30 days

Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy revision notes and other study material for 15 years now

Start selling

Recently viewed by you

Exam (elaborations) ·

(0)

NR 222 Health and Wellness EXAM Chamberlain College

Exam (elaborations) ·

(0)

MN 553 Unit 8 Quiz – Question and Answers 100% CORRECT Guide

Essay ·

(0)

NR 501 Application of Pender’s Health Promotion Model

Exam (elaborations) ·

(0)

Grade 11 Physics Unit 1 Review Study Guide Graded A

Exam (elaborations) ·

(0)

NR509; Shadow Health Focused Exam Chest Pain Results

Package deal ·

(0)

Maternity Nursing NCLEX Practice Questions 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 & 8

Summary ·

(0)

Examenvoorbereiding STRM (Strategisch management) KdG

Exam (elaborations) ·

(0)

NURS 6550 MIDTERM EXAM 1 – QUESTION AND ANSWERS (100% CORRECT)

Summary ·

(0)

samenvatting: Moleculen mechanismen van genexpressie
£3.99
  • (0)
Add to cart
Added