ipl-logo

Criminally Liable For Omission Essay

2952 Words12 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Two kinds of criminal omission

A person is said to be criminally liable if he commits an act which the law renders illegal. Under English criminal law a person is generally not liable for an omission. The crime must be capable of being committed by omission. For example if A was drowning and B sees A drowning, there is no responsibility on B’s part to help A. Even if A ends up dying B is not liable for A’s death. He may only merely have a moral obligation to help but he cannot be charged with murder or battery. Basically, B cannot be prosecuted for his failure to act. Although this is the general principle, it is subject to exceptions. Where a person is under a duty to act and he fails to do so he is deemed to be criminally liable for the omission. The most important …show more content…

It is an offence if a motorist fails without reasonable excuse to provide a breath specimen to a police officer when required to do so ( S.6 Road Traffic Act 1998) . Similarly, it is also an offence if a person fails to report a road traffic accident to the police within 24 hours. ( S.170 (4) of the Road Traffic Act 1988. It is also an offence if a person who is legally responsible to maintain a child by providing the child with food, clothing, medical aid and shelter fails to do so. ( S. 1 (2) (a) of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933). Yet another exception to the general rule is failing to report terrorist activity (Terrorism Act 2000). Liability for an omission can arise where a person is found to owe a duty to act through public office. A police officer is under a duty to assist members of the public in danger. This can be seen in the leading case R v Dytham. A police officer who was on duty near a nightclub failed to come to the assistance of a man who was being assaulted. The victim was eventually kicked to death. The defendant was convicted of the common law offence of misconduct while acting as an officer of

Show More
Related
510 Words | 3 Pages

1) Michael and John should be charge for theft. They were both committed to steal the TV from the Thriftmart. 2) It’s a felony. Theft in the second degree is a class C felony.

Read More
1093 Words | 5 Pages

An officer is working for the public helping to protect and to help keep everyone safe from danger. The public does not work as an officer because they are not trained or are aware of how the job works. When misusing your power this takes an effect on the public and how they will function around the police. You want the public to feel welcome and that they feel safe knowing that there is an officer around. Police that are leaving horrible impressions on the public is what ruins the relationship between the people and officers.

Read More
1253 Words | 6 Pages

Also, there are many incidents involving officers who use their right to use force that exceeded

Read More
636 Words | 3 Pages

There have been several instances of law enforcement officers being accused and convicted for abusing their power. In April 2013 two cops

Read More
1271 Words | 6 Pages

The case of Tamir Rice is a strong example of how unjust police officers can be when Tamir was shot and murdered for playing around in a park with no remorse. According to an online source “Towards the end of the call, he adds that the person pointing the gun ‘is probably a juvenile.’ Tragically, that crucial information was not relayed to the responding officers (“Tamir Rice”).” The initial incident happened in response to a police dispatch call, Officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback were dispatched to the park where a caller had reported that there was a young male seen pointing a pistol at people in the park. According to the same online source “Tamir was by himself, playing in a gazebo when two police officers pulled onto the grass right alongside the gazebo.

Read More
566 Words | 3 Pages

The courts have stated that even if the officer’s actions taken were reasonable under the circumstances, which comes under the good faith doctrine, therefore no misconduct needs to be deterred and the exclusionary rule will not apply ("The "Good Faith" Doctrine"). The officer has to prove to the courts that they have the good-faith

Read More
937 Words | 4 Pages

In life we have to make decisions that could result in someone's life ending. When people are put in these situations I think that they should not be held accountable for their actions. The decisions that they make could be affected by if they are held accountable or not. I think that people should not be held accountable for their actions in life or death situations.

Read More
1006 Words | 5 Pages

It can be hard to prosecute a cop for these actions due to the constant state of threat a cop’s life is at while doing their job and the unpredictability of their job. An example of an case where the police’s use of force were questioned was the Wardlaw v. Pickett case. In this case a man named, William C. Wardlaw decided to sue the United States Deputy Marshals, William Pickett and Albert Crew. Wardlaw claimed that the two violated his constitutional rights by using excessive force on him and falsing arresting and prosecuting him.

Read More
1628 Words | 7 Pages

Police misconduct can be described as any inappropriate behavior on the part of any law enforcement officer that is either illegal or immoral or both. Law enforcement agents are should behave to a standard that is greater than the average civilian. Police brutality comes from an abuse of power granted to the police. Police brutality is often drawn on by overreaction in certain situations drawn on by panic. Police using excessive force in the United States is a crucial problem and must be stopped.

Read More
569 Words | 3 Pages

I hope that during my undergraduate years at George Mason University I will be able to investigate the problem affecting many colleges that is date rape drugs. Rape on college campuses is a horrifying epidemic that our country is facing. According to healthresearchfunding.org “Up to 90% of college campus rapes occur through date rape incidents.” Almost every day on the news there is a new story about a woman who was a victim of rape or sexual assault, and most of the time the perpetrator gets away hands free. A major reason why date rape drugs are commonly used is because they are easily slipped in to drinks at college parties and are undetectable by the victim.

Read More
709 Words | 3 Pages

Non Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997 section 2 states : " A person shall be guilty of the offence of assault who without lawful excuse intentionally or recklessly :a)directly or indirectly applies force to or causes an impact on the body of another causes another to believe on reasonable grounds that he or she is likely immediately to be subjected to any such force or impact without the consent of the other " . Following this with the incident between Murt and Bernie , Murt agrees to take part in an incident that could cause harm to himself as well as impact from the body of another . However in section 3 A person who assaults another causing him or her harm shall be guilty of an offence . Section 4 then states a person or intentionally

Read More
813 Words | 4 Pages

Negligence is a term of art, but has different meanings in different jurisdictions. In ‘Tort’, damage is an essential ingredient but that element is not necessary in master servant relationship. In criminal law, there are channels of offences based on negligence in which loss or injury is immaterial; it is enough if the act is likely to cause injury or endanger life. Operating a patient without consent is an example of negligence even without actual damage. Dictionary meaning of term ‘Negligence’ is ‘Lack of Proper Care’.

Read More
870 Words | 4 Pages

Are we obligated to obey unjust laws? Laws are important because they are guidelines for a state. Without laws citizens would not know how to act and cause harm to others. Laws are aimed at common good and keep a society together and functioning.

Read More
1245 Words | 5 Pages

Sexual assault is a form of forced sexual violence. The term sexual assault can be defined as an act in which a person sexually violates a victim without the victims consent. This is one of the most common problems faced by many schools in South Africa, the problem of sexual assault amongst learners in South African school. Sexual assault is an unlawful act, which the perpetrator can be sentenced to jail for practicing it. Sexual assault can be in a form of fondling of unwanted sexual touching, forcing a victim to perform sexual acts such as oral sex or penetrating the victim’s body and torturing a person in a sexual manner.

Read More
2318 Words | 10 Pages

A person is generally not liable for failing to act yet when an omission creates an offence and a duty to act can be established, criminal liability can occur. A case which states the general rule is R v Khan and Khan . In this case both

Read More

More about Criminally Liable For Omission Essay

Related Topics

Open Document