Why Not-doings are Special

Author(s):  
A P Simester

This chapter discusses criminal liability for omissions. The criminal law draws a basic distinction between things done and things not done. Its default rule is that one is not accountable for failing to prevent something that it would be a crime to bring about by a positive act. There are, of course, exceptions to the default rule, in as much as the law often imposes distinct duties to intervene and prevent harm. However, the concern in this chapter is with why the default rule itself should exist. One reason is that not-doings are typically less culpable, and the law has good reasons to acknowledge this by means of its default rule requiring a positive act. More importantly, though, the doing/not-doing distinction matters for reasons of ascriptive responsibility. Distinct duties are, first and foremost, conduits to holding the defendant accountable for an event or outcome. Absent such a duty, a not-doer is prima facie not accountable for the consequences of her deed: whereas a doer is. The chapter looks first at the nature of not-doings and omissions generally; considers whether not-doings really are less culpable; then investigates the argument from ascriptive responsibility for differentiating their treatment.

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 46-56
Author(s):  
Aleksandr V. Fedorov ◽  
◽  
Mikhail V. Krichevtsev ◽  

The article reviews the history of development of French laws on criminal liability of legal entities. The authors note that the institution of criminal liability of legal entities (collective criminal liability) dates back to the ancient times and has been forming in the French territory for a long time. Initially, it was established in the acts on collective liability residents of certain territories, in particular, in the laws of the Salian Franks. This institution was inherited from the Franks by the law of the medieval France, and got transferred from the medieval period to the French criminal law of the modern period. The article reviews the laws of King Louis XIV as an example of establishment of collective criminal liability: the Criminal Ordinance of 1670 and the Ordinances on Combating Vagrancy and Goods Smuggling of 1706 and 1711. For the first time ever, one can study the Russian translation of the collective criminal liability provisions of the said laws. The authors state that although the legal traditions of collective liability establishment were interrupted by the transformations caused by the French Revolution of 1789 to 1794, criminal liability of legal entities remained in Article 428 of the French Penal Code of 1810 as a remnant of the past and was abolished only as late as in 1957. The publication draws attention to the fact that the criminal law codification process was not finished in France, and some laws stipulating criminal liability of legal entities were in effect in addition to the French Penal Code of 1810: the Law on the Separation of Church and State of December 9, 1905; the Law of January 14, 1933; the Law on Maritime Trade of July 19, 1934; the Ordinance on Criminal Prosecution of the Press Institutions Cooperating with Enemies during World War II of May 5, 1945. The authors describe the role of the Nuremberg Trials and the documents of the Council of Europe in the establishment of the French laws on criminal liability of legal entities, in particular, Resolution (77) 28 On the Contribution of Criminal Law to the Protection of the Environment, Recommendation No. R (81) 12 On Economic Crime, the Recommendation No. R (82) 15 On the Role of Criminal Law in Consumer Protection and Recommendation No. (88) 18 of the Committee of Ministers to Member States Concerning Liability of Enterprises Having Legal Personality for Offences Committed in the Exercise of Their Activities. The authors conclude that the introduction of the institution of criminal liability of legal entities is based on objective conditions and that research of the history of establishment of the laws on collective liability is of great importance for understanding of the modern legal regulation of the issues of criminal liability of legal entities.


2021 ◽  
pp. 126-150
Author(s):  
Michael J. Allen ◽  
Ian Edwards

Course-focused and contextual, Criminal Law provides a succinct overview of the key areas on the law curriculum balanced with thought-provoking contextual discussion. This chapter discusses the meaning of negligence, arguments for and against negligence as a basis for criminal liability, the meaning of strict liability, the origins of and justifications for strict liability, the presumption of mens rea in offences of strict liability, defences to strict liability, and strict liability and the European Convention on Human Rights. The feaeture ‘The law in context’ examines critically the use of strict liability as the basis for liability in the offence of paying for the sexual services of a person who has been subject to exploitation.


Author(s):  
Jonathan Herring

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. Criminal Law Concentrate covers fundamental principles of this area of law and helps the reader to succeed in exams. Topics covered include the basis of criminal liability, actus reus, mens rea, and strict liability. The chapters also examine offences such as non-fatal offences, sexual offences, homicide, inchoate offences, theft, and fraud. Defences are also examined in the final two chapters. This edition has been updated to include: recent developments in the law and new cases such as Jogee, Conroy, Golds, Ivey, and Joyce; more detail on sexual offences; more revision tips and tables to improve learning; and an ‘Exam essentials’ feature.


Author(s):  
Jonathan Herring

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. Criminal Law Concentrate covers fundamental principles of this area of law and helps the reader to succeed in exams. Topics covered include the basis of criminal liability, actus reus, mens rea, and strict liability. The chapters also examine offences such as non-fatal offences, sexual offences, homicide, inchoate offences, theft, and fraud. Defences are also examined in the final two chapters. This edition has been updated to include: recent developments in the law and new cases such as Jogee, Conroy, Golds, Ivey, and Joyce; more detail on sexual offences; more revision tips and tables to improve learning; and an ‘Exam essentials’ feature.


2020 ◽  
Vol 138 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-235
Author(s):  
KRYSTYNA PATORA ◽  
EMIL ŚWIĄDER

The article focuses on the case of Gäfgen v. Germany, which con-cerns the restrictions imposed on police offi cers who work on cases involving terror and violence posing a risk to human life, and on the ones who have to make decisions protecting victims’ lives. The choice of measures serving the protection of the highest value, i.e. human life, is not easy. At the same time, police offi cers are assessed in terms of criminal law as regards the protection of the basic human rights enjoyed by perpetrators who pose a risk to other people’s lives. The case of Gäfgen v. Germany regards the choice of values, and the criminal liability of police offi cers, connected with thereof, as well as the problem of the admissibility of evidence obtained in breach of the law in criminal proceedings, and the limitations of the fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine.


2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Suwari Akhmaddhian

A defense against criminal liability of a health worker who commit criminal acts of malpractice can be argued that the criminal liability lies in the form of omission errors or omissions when power kesehatantersebut their profession . As a result of mistakes resulting in death or injury , an element of health personnel mistakes made in this case is the gross negligence or culpa lata which will be requested a defense response of the consequences of his actions . In the application of the criminal law against the perpetrators of malpractice , the application of positive law for perpetrators of malpractice contained in Article 361 and Article 359 of the Code of Criminal Law and Law no . 36 of 2009 on Health . But in the application of these articles dilemma arises in understanding the elements of negligence which measures whether the health worker negligence or not in terms of their profession , to the order of the Book  of the  Law is  being revised  Criminal Law should  regulate the issue of negligence is regulated in detail and.clear.Keywords : Health , Criminal , Malpractice.


2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (72) ◽  
pp. 18
Author(s):  
Ivars Kronis

The article contains analysis of the legal norms that govern criminal liability for risks posed to insolvency. Based on case law and conclusions made by the law scholars, the preconditions have been studied the presence of which has to be proven in order to enable calling of a person to criminal account for leading to insolvency, filing of a fraudulent application for insolvency proceedings, hindering the insolvency proceedings and breach of the conditions of legal protection. The study enables deepen understanding of the preconditions to application of the law and helps to gain knowledge of criminal legal protection of insolvency and to avoid any behavior patterns that might be interpreted as criminal. The period since enactment of the new Insolvency Law that has changed the concept of insolvency as well as the course of procedure and therefore has affected the application of criminal legal protection has been too short for development of judiciary in this area. The few sources of scientific literature on the regulation of criminal legal protection of insolvency in the Criminal Law had been published before enactment of the new Insolvency Law. Five years of operation of the Insolvency Law is a kind of milestone for updating the issues of criminal legal protection of insolvency and extended assessment of the insolvency regulations in the Criminal Law.


2021 ◽  
pp. 100-110
Author(s):  
Tetiana NIKIFOROVA

The grounds and conditions for the application of restrictive measures applied to persons, who have committed domestic violence, are provided in Art. 911 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. It is established that in the science of criminal law there is a unanimous position that the basis for the application of restrictive measures under Art. 911 of the Criminal Code is the commission by a person of a crime related to domestic violence, and the conditions are: 1) sentencing a person not related to imprisonment; 2) release of a person from criminal liability on the grounds provided by the Criminal Code; 3) release of a person from punishment on the grounds provided by the Criminal Code. These conditions are alternative. The content of the concept of «crime related to domestic violence» is analyzed and it is established that it should be understood more broadly than the act provided for in Art. 1261 of the Criminal Code «Domestic Violence». It is proposed to add to Art. 911 of the Criminal Code a note explaining the meaning of the term «criminal offense related to domestic violence», where it is necessary to note that this concept is broader than the crime under Art. 1261 of the Criminal Code. The content of each of the conditions of application of restrictive measures is analyzed. It has been established that in the application of restrictive measures during the imposition of non-custodial sentences in practice there are problems with the interpretation of the relevant concept. It is proposed to clarify the meaning of the concept of «punishment not related to imprisonment» in Art. 911 of the Criminal Code. It is also established that the application of restrictive measures in releasing a person from criminal liability is a declarative norm and is subject to exclusion from the conditions of application of restrictive measures due to the incompatibility of the latter with the nature of exemption from criminal liability. The legislation clearly regulates the procedure for applying restrictive measures to persons released from serving a probation sentence. A number of problems that arise during the control over the behaviour of persons to whom restrictive measures have been applied by the probation authorities have also been identified. The solution to these problems is possible by harmonizing the provisions of the Criminal Code and the Law of Ukraine «On Probation», as well as other regulations governing the activities of probation bodies. It is proposed to refer the application of restrictive measures to supervisory probation, which will lead to a number of changes to the articles of the Law of Ukraine «On Probation» in terms of regulation of supervisory probation, to refer to probation subjects persons subject to restrictive measures, and to exclude the fact that it is assigned to a person released from serving a probation sentence, and in the regulations governing the development and implementation of probation programs to provide for their application to persons to whom restrictive measures have been applied. It is concluded that the probation body should be endowed with a coordinating function to implement all restrictive measures and it is necessary at the level of bylaws to establish a clear procedure for interaction of the probation body with the National Police, local state administrations and local governments to control the behaviour of individuals, which the appropriate restrictive measure is applied.


Jurnal MINUTA ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-27
Author(s):  
Arif Hidayat

Notary in making an authentic deed must be able to account for the deed if it turns out that in the future problems arise from the authentic deed both in terms of criminal law, civil law or State administration. The problems arising from the deed made by the Notary need to be questioned whether it is the result of an error from the Notary or the error of the viewer who does not provide information in accordance with the actual reality to the Notary. Such negligence or error can occur because the Notary in question is lacking or does not understand the construction or legal actions desired by the viewer so that the deed made is contrary to the provisions of the law. Such negligence or error can also be deliberately carried out by the concerned Notary. This study focuses on Law Number 30 Year 2004 as amended by Law Number 2 of 2014 concerning Notary Position wherein this study discusses the Notary who is unable to carry out his position so he has the right to submit written leave request and at the same time accompanied by the appointment of a substitute notary. After a while, a lawsuit from a party that feels aggrieved results from the deed made by Si X as a Substitute Notary. The results of this study concluded that a notary who leaves as a substituted notary has responsibility for the deed made by his successor notary even though he is on leave from his position where the responsibility is in the form of civil liability, if the substitute notary commits an error within the scope of authority given by a notary to a substitute notary. So in that case the notary is also liable for losses suffered by the parties due to the deed made by the substitute notary. Because the notary who is replaced is the owner of the office, if the notary of origin will file leave then he will appoint an employee from his own office as a substitute notary. Criminal responsibility, in the case of a criminal offense, a notary who is replaced is not responsible, for example in the case of tax evasion. Criminal liability can only be imposed on a substitute notary if he makes a mistake outside his authority as a substitute notary. Then the notary whose leave cannot be held accountable. The substitute notary is also entitled to get the same protection and legal guarantees because every citizen has the same rights before the law.


Legal Studies ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Mark Dsouza

Abstract I argue that instead of analysing a criminal offence's conduct element in terms of acts and omissions, we should ask whether the defendant has belied a contextually salient expectation as to how she should, or routinely would, conduct herself. Slightly different sets of expectations are salient depending on whether our interest is in questions of criminalisation, or the proper interpretation of existing offences, but the criminal law is normally interested only in conduct-tokens that belie a relevant expectation. Belying such an expectation need not itself suggest culpability, but it does mark out the conduct as remark-able, in the sense of being ‘worthy of remark’. I argue that this ‘Remark-able Conduct Requirement’ (RCR) analysis helps us narrow the field of conduct-tokens that are normatively appropriate candidates for criminalisation, and when adapted for use in interpreting existing offences it: (a) generates familiar and plausible liability outcomes; (b) simplifies the application of the law; (c) offers a principled argument to limit the scope of offences drafted in overly broad terms, by excluding innocuous doings from potential criminal liability; and (d) suggests ways to make progress on philosophical puzzles about how we should conduct ourselves.


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