Actus Reus, Mens Rea & Omissions

• Actus reus

  Guilty act

  The voluntary, deliberate act of the defendant.

  The actus reus can be:

  A conduct crime such as:

  Drink driving.

  The conduct itself is the crime. Just having excess alcohol in the blood stream is enough to be convicted.
• Mens rea

  Guilty mind
• An omission is a failure to act and therefore is not an act and normally cannot form the actus reus
• Exceptions where a person has a duty to act and can be liable for an omission

  • Contractual duty
  • Duty due to a relationship
  • Duty taken on voluntarily
  • Duty from a public position
  • Duty to minimise harmful effects of an act
  • Statutory duty
• Contractual duty

  • Pittwood (1902)
• Duty due to a relationship

  • Gibbins & Proctor (1918)
• Duty taken on voluntarily

  • Stone and Dobinson (1977)
• A consequence crime such as:

  GBH - s20 Offences Against the Person Act 1861. 

  For the actus reus there must be an injury.
• A state of affairs crime such as:

  possession of drugs or offensive weapons.

  This is where the actus reus of a crime is fulfilled just by the state of affairs happening.
• Winzar

  police put a drunk man on the highway.  He was then found guilty of being drunk on the public highway. 

  He fulfilled the actus reus of the crime by just being drunk on the public highway.
• Involuntary Act

  If an act is involuntary it will not be sufficient to form part of the actus reus.

  Hill v Baxter (1958) gives us some examples of when a person cannot be said to be acting voluntarily:

  E.g. Stung by a swarm of bees, heart attack or struck on head by stone.

  To be convicted it must be a  voluntary act.
• Good Samaritan Law


  This is a law which makes people responsible for helping others in an ‘emergency situation’. This is a law in France.

  What problems can this type of law cause?

  -Might do more harm than good

  -Do they have to put themselves at risk?
• Omissions


  An Omission is a failure to act and therefore is not an act and normally cannot form the actus reus.

  However, there are exceptions to this rule.  Where a person has a duty to act they can be liable for an omission.
• Examples of possible duties are:

  Contractual duty

  Duty due to a relationship

  Where duty taken on voluntarily

  Duty from a public position
• Contractual duty – Pittwood (1902)


  P’s job was to shut the gates at a level crossing when a train was coming.  He forgot and man was hit by a train and killed.

  P was held to be under a contractual duty to shut the gates.  He omitted to do this and caused the death. 

  Convicted of manslaughter.
• • Duty due to a relationship – Gibbins & Proctor (1918)


  Father and girlfriend failed to feed his child (Nelly) and she died.  Father omitted his duty as a parent.  Girlfriend had assumed the role of parent and had failed in that duty. 

  Both convicted of murder.
• Where duty taken on voluntarily Stone and Dobinson (1977)•

  Defendants made some attempts to help S’s ill and incapacitated sister (Fanny).  They failed to get help when she went to her room and stopped eating. 

  She died and they were convicted of manslaughter on the basis that they had voluntarily taken on the role of looking

  after her and failed.
• •Duty from a public position – Dytham (1979)


  D, a police officer, failed to act when he

  witnessed a man being violently attacked. 

  The man died and D was convicted of wilfully

  neglecting his duty.

  •
• • Duty to minimise harmful effects of his act – Miller (1983)


  M woke up to find his mattress alight.  Did not put it out, just moved to another room. 

  Convicted of arson as he had created a dangerous situation and was under a duty to minimise the effect of his act. 
• • Duty under an Act of Parliament – this is referred to as a statutory duty.

  For example - send a child under 16 to school