Criminal Law Notes

Case Law Classification

In understanding the legal classifications, various cases can be divided into specific categories based on the nature of the offense. Below are the classifications:

Battery
  • Thomas: - A case involving unlawful physical contact or slight injury.
  • Collins v Willcock: Establishes that any unwanted touching qualifies as a battery.
ABH (S47)
  • Chan-Fook: Defines the threshold of hurt or injury for actual bodily harm.
  • Haystead: Involves indirect application of force that can be considered ABH.
  • Mowatt: Indicates that recklessness suffices for S47.
GBH (S20)
  • Dica: Involves the transmission of a serious infection and consideration of consent.
  • Saunders: Highlights that grievous bodily harm can be determined by the severity of the injury.
  • Smith: Evaluates the definition of serious harm.
GBH with Intent (S18)
  • Eisenhower: Discusses grievous bodily harm definitions, especially concerning wounding.
  • Nedrick: The mental state required for S18, focusing on intention.
  • R v K: Involves the defendant’s state of mind when injuring another deliberately.
Other Notable Cases
  • Burstow: Concerned with psychological injury as ABH.
  • Miller: Addresses the issue of continuing liabilities resulting from battery.
  • T v DPP: Highlights the complexities of mens rea in physical confrontations.

Key Points of Law in Battery and ABH

Understanding the nuances of battery and actual bodily harm (ABH) is essential:

  1. Momentary Unconsciousness: This condition can be classified as ABH.
  2. Mens Rea Requirements: The intention or recklessness must exist regarding the harm caused.
  3. Touching Clothing: Legally, touching clothing is interpreted as touching the person directly.
  4. Cutting Hair: Even this act can amount to ABH, as it harms the victim's comfort.
  5. Definition of Hurt: The law defines it as “any hurt or injury calculated to interfere with the health or comfort of the victim.”
  6. Slightest Touch: It is important to recognize that even minimal contact can amount to battery.
  7. Causation: A break in the continuity of the skin is crucial for defining grievous bodily harm.
  8. Biological GBH: Concerns long-term health implications due to inflicted injuries.

Murder Law Overview

Definition of Murder

The common law definition provided by Lord Coke emphasizes critical elements:

  • Unlawful Killing: It must be an unlawful act, not justified as self-defense or during war.
  • Legal Person: Only killings of human beings are relevant.
  • Malice Aforethought: This can be express (intention to kill) or implied (intention to cause serious injury).
Actus Reus of Murder
  1. Unlawful Killing: Can result from direct actions or omissions.
  2. Human Victim: A fetus is not considered a legal person until birth.
  3. Not During War: Killing an enemy during war is not murder; distance from the Queen's peace is essential.
  4. Causation: Causation must be proven for murder charges.

Cases Reflecting Actus Reus and Causation

Significant Case Studies
  • R v Stone and Dobinson: This acknowledges failures in care leading to death demonstrate that omissions can constitute murder. The defendants failed to provide adequate care for a victim who had become incapacitated.
  • Malcherek: Discusses the legal position of patients on life support, clarifying when they are no longer considered a reasonable person in being.
Causation in Murder

The prosecution must fulfill the following criteria:

  1. Factual Cause: Assessed using the ‘but for’ test (as seen in cases like Pagett and White).
  2. Legal Cause: Must establish a more than trivial link to the injury causing death (Kimsey’s de minimis rule).
  3. Intervening Acts: Must be shown that no third-party acts broke the chain of causation (examined in Smith and Cheshire).

Malice Aforethought

Express Malice

Intention to kill explicitly demonstrates malice aforethought, which could manifest through:

  • Direct Intention: A clear aim to cause death.
  • Oblique Intention: The intention can also be derived indirectly, as outlined in celebrated cases like Hancock and Shankland.
Implied Malice
  • Implied Malice: The intention to inflict serious injury suffices for a murder conviction as established in R v Vickers.
Mercy Killings

R v Inglis (2011): Highlights that intending to end a suffering individual's life (mercy killings) can still be prosecuted as murder.

Summary of Murder Law Components

  • Definition: As provided by Lord Coke, which outlines unlawful killing.
  • Actus Reus: Unlawful and causing death through actions or omissions (consider various relevant cases).
  • Mens Rea: An intention that can either be expressed or implied indicating malice aforethought.

Example Scenarios Evaluating Intent

  1. Geraint and Victor: If Geraint hits Victor deliberately, intent would be clear.
  2. John's Attack on His Mother: John’s motive points to a direct intent to kill.
  3. Kylie's Action: Examining whether the intent for the death could be proven is pivotal, given the reckless nature of throwing a rock.