Tutorial 4
1. The increasing reliance on strict liability for new criminal o ences is undermining fundamental
principles of criminal law.
Strict liability leads to conviction of persons who are, morally speaking, innocent. Convicting and
punishing those who do not deserve it perpetrates a serious wrong. It is unjust to punish conduct
without reference to the actor’s state of mind because the actor is subjected to the stigma
Strict liability is a misuse of the criminal law. “Where strict liability leads to conviction of the
blameless, its use in stigmatic crimes is always unjusti ed.”
Strict liability o ences helps protecting the public by bettering criminals, raising the standard of
care and due to the ease of proof saves money and time. Therefore, disagreeing with the
statement that strict liability undermines fundamental principles of criminal law as the people have
chosen to undertake the risk.
Using the IRAC method analyze the judgment of the Court of Appeal in R v Wallace [2018] EWCA
Crim 690. Ignore the discussions of the evidential rulings paragraphs 29 -40. Make sure to read
the rest of the judgment in full. It is available at: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Crim/
2018/690.html
2. What would be the most suitable charges to bring against the three?
John - constructive manslaughter because he committed an unlawful act that was dangerous and
caused the death of the victim. It was disapproved in r v mitchell that the lawful act had to be
directed at the victim despite r v Dalby stating otherwise
Julia - second degree murder as she intended to cause serious injury, being aware that her
conduct could involve a serious risk of causing death.
Arron - gross negligence manslaughter as a duty of care was owed to the victim, there was a
breach of duty as he failed to read the hospital notes and this breach caused the victim’s death.
ff fi ff
1. The increasing reliance on strict liability for new criminal o ences is undermining fundamental
principles of criminal law.
Strict liability leads to conviction of persons who are, morally speaking, innocent. Convicting and
punishing those who do not deserve it perpetrates a serious wrong. It is unjust to punish conduct
without reference to the actor’s state of mind because the actor is subjected to the stigma
Strict liability is a misuse of the criminal law. “Where strict liability leads to conviction of the
blameless, its use in stigmatic crimes is always unjusti ed.”
Strict liability o ences helps protecting the public by bettering criminals, raising the standard of
care and due to the ease of proof saves money and time. Therefore, disagreeing with the
statement that strict liability undermines fundamental principles of criminal law as the people have
chosen to undertake the risk.
Using the IRAC method analyze the judgment of the Court of Appeal in R v Wallace [2018] EWCA
Crim 690. Ignore the discussions of the evidential rulings paragraphs 29 -40. Make sure to read
the rest of the judgment in full. It is available at: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Crim/
2018/690.html
2. What would be the most suitable charges to bring against the three?
John - constructive manslaughter because he committed an unlawful act that was dangerous and
caused the death of the victim. It was disapproved in r v mitchell that the lawful act had to be
directed at the victim despite r v Dalby stating otherwise
Julia - second degree murder as she intended to cause serious injury, being aware that her
conduct could involve a serious risk of causing death.
Arron - gross negligence manslaughter as a duty of care was owed to the victim, there was a
breach of duty as he failed to read the hospital notes and this breach caused the victim’s death.
ff fi ff
