ipl-logo

Causation In South African Criminal Law

1829 Words8 Pages

1 Introduction

Causation as an element of a crime can be considered difficult to prove in certain circumstances. This is due to the fact that both factual and legal causation must be proven in order to hold somebody liable for their actions. In certain cases, an exception is made due to the fact that medical negligence acts as a novus actus interveniens and, therefore, the accused cannot be held liable for the death of their victims.
In R v Mabole, Judge Young made the statement that if medical treatment is given with “goodwill” and “reasonable efficiency” then the accused in the criminal case cannot comment on the errors that the doctors made when treating the patient. In short, Judge Young meant that an accused cannot rely on medical …show more content…

To go about answering this question I made use of the opinions of various legal academics as well as relevant, South African, case law.

2 Causation in South African criminal law

Causation forms part of one of the five elements of a crime when determining if the accused is guilty or not. It entails the court asking if the accused’s conduct caused the unlawful consequence. It is only relevant for consequence crimes, such as murder or arson, and there must be a causal link between the conduct of the accused and the unlawful consequence. In order to determine if there is a link, the court makes use of two tests: factual and legal causation.

2 1 Factual causation
Factual causation links the conduct of the accused to the end result of the unlawful consequence. For factual causation, we use the conditio sine qua non test which translates to the “but for” test and is used in practice as “but for the accused’s conduct, would the victim have suffered the same …show more content…

Burchell is of the belief that where there is negligent medical treatment, there is novus actus interveniens. Snyman has an opposing view on medical negligence. He believes that negligent medical treatment should not break the chain of causation and only if it is gross negligent medical treatment can it act as a novus actus

Show More
Related

Case Citation: Gallagher V. Cayuga Medical Center

1153 Words | 5 Pages

Case Citation: Gallagher v. Cayuga Medical Center 151 AD 3d 1349 - NY: Appellate Div., 3rd Dept. 2017 Background: In this civil case Timothy W. Gallagher is the appellant, and Cayuga Medical Center (CMC) is the respondents. The case took place in the appellate division of the supreme court of New York, division three. The plaintiff’s complaint was that Cayuga Medical Center had asserted medical malpractice, negligence, wrongful death and emotional distressed.

Read More

The Case Of Tomcik Vs. Ohio Department Of Rehabilitation And Corrections

1253 Words | 6 Pages

In the case of Tomcik vs. Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections, Janet Tomcik, the plaintiff, blamed the loss of her right breast on the fact that there was a major delay in her examination and treatment of her tumor. This could be known as nonfeasance negligence, which is the “failure to act when there is a duty to act,” (Pozgar, 2016). The corrections department, or in this case, the defendant, claimed that Tomcik`s cancer was already so developed, that her breast would have been removed regardless of when her official checkup and treatment took place. One stakeholder in this case is Janet Tomcik. She is the patient who not only lost her breast, but endured “physical pain, [and] emotional suffering,” (Tomcik, 1991).

Read More

Tomcik Case Study

785 Words | 4 Pages

After reading this case I was terribly shocked about the fact that something like this could happen in our medical history. I couldn’t believe how a patient could be neglected so much. Based on the material that we have learned the lack of ethical theory of deontology in Dr. Evan was disturbing. As a doctor Dr. Evan’s role is to care for patients, keep them away from harm and prolong their life. Though in the trial he stated as if he didn’t care.

Read More

Case Study: Caring Memorial Hospital

974 Words | 4 Pages

They each are liable for nursing negligence in a civil court. Because they breached the standards of care by failing to render the degree of care, skill, and judgment exercised by a prudent nurse under the same circumstances (Westrick, 2014). Jeffery Chambers, RN had an established duty to care for Yolanda Pinnelas and breached the standard of care as he was the primary nurse assigned to the patient. Diana Smith, RN mentioned to Jeffery Chambers, RN that Yolanda Pinnelas IV infusion was beeping. However, he did not take the time to check the nature of the problem.

Read More

Dr Anna Pou Case Summary

639 Words | 3 Pages

It It f It frustrates me what Dr. Anna Pou had to go through with the lawsuits of the Memorial Medical Center incident. As Healthcare professionals, being sued for making the rightful decision for the patient and the hospital is unjust. Healthcare professionals like Dr. Pou, have taken the Hippocratic oath, and one of the promises made within that oath is “first, do no harm”. Hospital’s should not be so quick to make such an important decision of pressing charges to their faculty; more trust should be placed in them. In addition, she made it clear her intentions were just to ‘‘help’’ patients ‘‘through their pain,’’ on national television.

Read More

Criminal Decision-Making

675 Words | 3 Pages

Just like bank robbers, there is a rational choice to do it. The crimes are from a rational choice. These are made through taking advantage of a criminal opportunity. Similar to how committing a bank robbery, the criminal must have a plan on how to do the crime without getting caught. This must be done as fast as possible without any police chasing after them.

Read More

Tort Case Study: Health Care Law

1368 Words | 6 Pages

Health Care Law: Tort Case Study Carolann Stanek University of Mary   Health Care Law: Tort Case Study A sample case study reviewed substandard care that was delivered to Ms. Gardner after having sustained an accident and brought to Bay Hospital for treatment. Dr. Dick, a second-year pediatric resident, was on that day in the ED and provided care for Ms. Gadner. Dr. Moon, is the chief of staff and oversees the credentialing of all physicians at Bay Hospital.

Read More

Summary Of Tomcik V. Ohio Department Of Rehabilitation

1010 Words | 5 Pages

The court found the “Defendant's care of Claimant fell below acceptable standards of practice” (Stashenko, 2015). In 2009 a former inmate of the Hawaii corrections department was awarded close to $1 million in damages for an incident in 2003, in which the physician’s failure to give the correct type and dosage of antibiotic for an infection in his scrotum. This resulted in 6 subsequent surgeries and the removal of his scrotum, rendering him

Read More

Mens Rea In R V Mohan

1352 Words | 6 Pages

Mens rea is the element of a crime which alludes to what is known as the “guilty mind”. The case of R v Mohan [1976] QB 1 , the case dealing with the meaning of intention in the context of the offence of murder, James LJ clarified that intention meant ‘aim’ or ‘a decision to bring about a certain consequence’ whilst mens rea is generally related with motive what it more directly links to the notion of intention. There are two types of intention, direct intention and oblique intention .Oblique intention is difficult for a jury to infer and difficult for a prosecutor to prove. Defining mens rea of intention precisely is very difficult over the years.

Read More

Pamela Foddrill Tragic Abduction Case Study

2482 Words | 10 Pages

The former being defined as the evidence collected in order to convict or rule out suspects, and the latter being defined as the way the investigators developed the investigation and how it evolved throughout the ensuing years. In order to evaluate these two different subjects, one needs to examine the similarities and differences between this investigation and theories about how investigation of this type develop, the nuances of this investigation not able to be explained by theory, investigatory elements that

Read More

Argumentative Essay On Medical Malpractice

1414 Words | 6 Pages

“Medical malpractice claims and lawsuits deal with Improper, unskilled, or negligent treatment of a patient by a physician, dentist, nurse, pharmacist, or other health care professional. Negligence is the predominant theory of liability concerning allegations of medical malpractice, making this type of litigation part of Tort Law. Since the 1970s, medical malpractice has been a controversial social issue. Physicians have complained about the large number of malpractice suits and have urged legal reforms to curb large damage awards, whereas tort attorneys have argued that negligence suits are an effective way of compensating victims of negligence and of policing the medical profession. A person who alleges negligent medical malpractice

Read More

Julie Thao's Medication Attack Case Study

541 Words | 3 Pages

There were specific situations that led to the cause of Julie Thao's actions of medication error and the death of Jasmine. The situation could have completely been avoided had Julie followed the code of ethics and avoided shorts to provide proper care for the patient. The state claimed that Thao's mistake was caused by actions, omissions and unapproved shortcuts, however, there were other factors that played a role in her carelessness as well. While failure to comply with procedure has been a factor in the medication administration error, other factors contributed as well. For example, failure to properly use the information system, or to ignore alerts or warnings have also resulted in preventable errors (Nelson, Evan, & Gardener, 2005).

Read More

Essay On Critical Analysis Of Negligence

1997 Words | 8 Pages

Critical analysis of negligence and present legal scenario Abstract- The goal of this topic is to set out clearly what critical analysis is in general and how it plays itself out in variety of domains. Critical analysis too refers to critical thinking. The danger of misunderstanding and misapplication is touched in this topic the aim of this topic is to identify a coherent legal response to a particular casual problem of “negligence” in critical analysis it is important to identify the focus of the assignment .critical begins with identify your own point to view Introduction

Read More

Behavioural Evidence Analysis In Criminal Investigation

741 Words | 3 Pages

In all crimes, a motive is present. Motive is defined as the emotional, psychological, and material needs that impel and are satisfied by behavior (Turvey, 2011). It is the driving force of our choices and actions, therefore, when it comes to criminal investigation, establishing a motive can help solve crimes. However, some motives are not apparent during the early stages of an investigation and before court proceedings. Without a motive, it would be difficult to prove guilt since the number question needed to be answer for juries are the “whys” in crimes.

Read More

Tort Of Negligence Essay

1154 Words | 5 Pages

Tort of negligence is the failure to act as a reasonable person to exercise the standard of care required by the law and resulting in damage to the party to whom the duty was owed. To prove negligence, the claimant must show that the defendant causing the damage was not only the actual cause of damage. He also show that the proximate cause of the damage. Proximity is the legal relationship between the parties from which the law will attribute a duty of care. And to prove negligence the type of the damage that occurred must have been foreseeable.

Read More

More about Causation In South African Criminal Law

Related Topics

Open Document