Adrees Khan

‘Law should encourage citizens in their civil duty to “do the right thing” in a moral sense and not turn a blind eye or fail to act to help someone who is in need.’

Consider to what extent the criminal law relating to commission reflects this view.

Omission is when the defendant does nothing to prevent the victim’s death. In certain circumstances, D may be under a duty to take positive steps to assist V, and if D fails to take those steps then he can be liable for murder or manslaughter. If D is liable for V’s death, he must be under a duty to act in the circumstances, otherwise he will escape liability. This was shown in Khan and Khan, in this case D escaped liability as there was no imposition of duty of care.

   Duty of care can be owed in a variety of situations. One of these situations is when duty arises out of contractual liability; where failure to fulfil a contract is likely to endanger lives, the criminal law will impose a duty to act. The duty is owed to anyone who may be affected, not just the parties to the contract. This was demonstrated in Pittwood, where D’s argument was rejected as his duty was owed to the railway company as well as to those who were affected.

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   Duty of care can also arise out of relationship; this was shown in Gibbons and Proctor. The father owed V duty of care as he was related to her; however his lover, P, was not related to V but was liable because P had voluntarily undertaken a duty. Both adults were liable for murder because of the deliberate non-performance of a legal duty. Duty arising from the assumption of care for another was also shown in Stone and Dobinson. The actus rea in this case was creating a dangerous situation and keeping V in that situation. The mens rea was ...

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Summary: The essay contains a generally accurate outline of the cases relating to when an omission in criminal law can bring about liability. However, it should question whether the law should be changed, and whether the cases were correctly decided has received limited coverage.***