WJEC/Eduqas A Level Law: Book 1 Revision Guide

General elements of criminal liability 147 Build your revision notes around… Elements of crime • A criminal case has to be proved by the prosecution beyond reasonable doubt • Actus reus and mens rea are needed for the commission of a criminal offence • Also needs to be factual or legal causation • Factual causation: ‘But for’ test : R v White (1910) ; De minimis rule: Pagett (1983) • Legal causation: The injury must be the operating and substantial cause of death: R v Smith (1959) ; Jordan (1956) ; The thin skull test: R v Blaue (1975) ; Novus actus interveniens : Pagett (1983) • There needs to be coincidence of actus reus and mens rea: contemporaneity rule • Continuing acts: Fagan v MPC (1969) • Single transaction of events: Thabo Meli (1954) • Transferred malice: Latimer (1986) • Actus reus: guilty act • Conduct crimes: perjury • Result crimes: murder • State of affairs crimes: R v Larsonneur (1933) • Omissions • Omissions: generally, it is not a crime to fail to act unless under a duty to act: • Statute: Road Traffic Act 1988 : breath sample • Contract: R v Pittwood (1902) • Duty arising out of a special relationship: R v Gibbins and Proctor (1918) • Duty arising out of a person assuming responsibility for another: R v Stone and Dobinson (1977) • Defendant has inadvertently created a dangerous situation, becomes aware of it, but fails to take steps to rectify it: Miller (1983) • Mens rea • Intention: direct and oblique Oblique: virtual certainty test Nedrick (1986) and Woolin (1998) • Recklessness: subjective: R v G and another (2003) • Negligence Strict liability • Crimes that do not require proof of mens rea for at least one element of the actus reus • Defence of mistake not available • Tend to cover regulatory offences such as food hygiene, parking offences and polluting the environment • Offences tend to be statutory but require statutory interpretation by judges as it may be unclear whether an offence is one of strict liability • Starting point for judges is presumption that mens rea is always required: Gammon (HK) Ltd v Attorney General (1985)