Criminal Law
Actus Reus: Causation
Basic Reading:
Herring Chapter 2 and an additional chapter on Actus Reus from another textbook.
Further Reading:
D. Baker, ‘Omissions liability for homicide offences: reconciling R. v Kennedy with R. v Evans’
(2010) 74(4) Journal of Criminal Law 310.
C. Elliot and C. De Than, ‘Prosecuting the Drug Dealer When a Drug User Dies: R v Kennedy
(No2)’ (2006) 69 Modern Law Review 986
H. Hart and A. Honoré, Causation in Law (2nd edition, OUP,1985)
M. S. Moore, Causation and Responsibility: An Essay in Law, Morals, and Metaphysics (Oxford:
OUP, 2009).
A.Norrie, ‘A Critique of Criminal Causation’ (1991) 54 Modern Law Review 685
N. Padfield, ‘Clean Water and Muddy Causation: Is causation a Question of Law, or Just a Way
of Allocating Blame?’ [1995] Criminal Law Review 683
J. Stannard, ‘Criminal Causation and the Careless Doctor’, (1992) 55 Modern Law Review 577
J. Stannard, ‘Medical treatment and the Chain of Causation’ (1993) 57 Journal of Criminal Law
88
G. Williams, ‘Finis for Novus Actus?’, (1989) 48 Cambridge Law Journal 391
To Consider
D stabbed V in her arm. The ambulance bringing V to the hospital was significantly delayed by a heavy rainstorm
which had caused the banks of a river to burst, flooding the roads. By the time V arrived at the hospital she had
lost a lot of blood. The doctor treating V failed to realise how deep the cut to V’s arm was and simply applied a
bandage without stitching her arm first. V’s arm continued to bleed. On her way home she fainted and fell in
front of a car. She was killed instantly. A post-mortem reveals that V suffered from haemophilia, a condition in
which the blood takes a long time to clot and which can lead to excessive bleeding even from minor injuries. It
also shows that her wound would have required only 4 or 5 stitches and that she did not have any food in her
stomach. It turns out that V’s sister had eaten the last of the cereal that morning, and so V had to skip breakfast.
What or who is the cause of V’s death?
1
Actus Reus: Causation
Basic Reading:
Herring Chapter 2 and an additional chapter on Actus Reus from another textbook.
Further Reading:
D. Baker, ‘Omissions liability for homicide offences: reconciling R. v Kennedy with R. v Evans’
(2010) 74(4) Journal of Criminal Law 310.
C. Elliot and C. De Than, ‘Prosecuting the Drug Dealer When a Drug User Dies: R v Kennedy
(No2)’ (2006) 69 Modern Law Review 986
H. Hart and A. Honoré, Causation in Law (2nd edition, OUP,1985)
M. S. Moore, Causation and Responsibility: An Essay in Law, Morals, and Metaphysics (Oxford:
OUP, 2009).
A.Norrie, ‘A Critique of Criminal Causation’ (1991) 54 Modern Law Review 685
N. Padfield, ‘Clean Water and Muddy Causation: Is causation a Question of Law, or Just a Way
of Allocating Blame?’ [1995] Criminal Law Review 683
J. Stannard, ‘Criminal Causation and the Careless Doctor’, (1992) 55 Modern Law Review 577
J. Stannard, ‘Medical treatment and the Chain of Causation’ (1993) 57 Journal of Criminal Law
88
G. Williams, ‘Finis for Novus Actus?’, (1989) 48 Cambridge Law Journal 391
To Consider
D stabbed V in her arm. The ambulance bringing V to the hospital was significantly delayed by a heavy rainstorm
which had caused the banks of a river to burst, flooding the roads. By the time V arrived at the hospital she had
lost a lot of blood. The doctor treating V failed to realise how deep the cut to V’s arm was and simply applied a
bandage without stitching her arm first. V’s arm continued to bleed. On her way home she fainted and fell in
front of a car. She was killed instantly. A post-mortem reveals that V suffered from haemophilia, a condition in
which the blood takes a long time to clot and which can lead to excessive bleeding even from minor injuries. It
also shows that her wound would have required only 4 or 5 stitches and that she did not have any food in her
stomach. It turns out that V’s sister had eaten the last of the cereal that morning, and so V had to skip breakfast.
What or who is the cause of V’s death?
1
