What is an Actus Reus?
Firstly an Actus reus, put simply, is the Guilty Act and also can be a failure to act (omission).
Types of Actus Reus:
All acts must be voluntarily committed and the case of Hill v Baxter illustrates an act may be involuntary where a person is attacked by a swarm of bees resulting in a car accident
Action would refer to those crimes that have an act that is immaterial e.g: Perjury is committed when making a statement which is untrue whilst on oath.
A state of affairs crime is concerned with those that are rather than doing e.g: being in the country illegally - R v Larsonneur
A result crime concerns where an act causes an end result. i.e: for murder, the end result would be the death of the victim
Omissions
The diagram below illustrates the various ways in which criminal liability can arise where there is a failure to act. Note that the law does not normally impose liability for failures to act. EXCEPT for the example below.
- A duty arising from contract
Where a person is under a contract to act, his failure can be a criminal offence.
R v Pittwood - Gatekeeper omitted to shutting the gate for a railway crossing and so a person was killed. Held guilty for manslaughter as it was the nature of the contract to prevent this from occurring
- A duty owed by parents to their children
Parents are expected by law to look after their children. This includes feeding them.
R v Gibbins and Proctor - The child's carers failed to feed the child and so the child died. Both found guilty for murder
- A duty voluntarily undertaken
A duty of care may also exist where there the defendant has voluntarily taken responsibility for the wellbeing of a person.
R v Stone and Dobinson - An assumed responsibility of care meant the death was classified as murder
- A duty to limit accidental harm
Where a person causes accidental damage, he is under a duty to take reasonable steps to limit the spread of the damage.
R v Miller - it was possible to create liability by failing to remedy a dangerous situation that one has oneself created and so was guilty for arson
- A duty to the public
A policeman has a duty of care as the holder of a public office
R v Dytham - Failure to act when witnessing a crime imposed liability as he was in a position which owes a general duty of care towards the public
- A duty arising from a statute
Liability will arise where a statute has imposed a duty to take positive action. This most frequently occurs in relation to road traffic offences. For example The Road Traffic Act 1988 imposes a number of duties to act. S7(6) makes it an offence to fail to provide a specimen when required to do so. Similarly, it is an offence not to wear a seat belt.
Types of Actus Reus:
All acts must be voluntarily committed and the case of Hill v Baxter illustrates an act may be involuntary where a person is attacked by a swarm of bees resulting in a car accident
Action would refer to those crimes that have an act that is immaterial e.g: Perjury is committed when making a statement which is untrue whilst on oath.
A state of affairs crime is concerned with those that are rather than doing e.g: being in the country illegally - R v Larsonneur
A result crime concerns where an act causes an end result. i.e: for murder, the end result would be the death of the victim
Omissions
The diagram below illustrates the various ways in which criminal liability can arise where there is a failure to act. Note that the law does not normally impose liability for failures to act. EXCEPT for the example below.
- A duty arising from contract
Where a person is under a contract to act, his failure can be a criminal offence.
R v Pittwood - Gatekeeper omitted to shutting the gate for a railway crossing and so a person was killed. Held guilty for manslaughter as it was the nature of the contract to prevent this from occurring
- A duty owed by parents to their children
Parents are expected by law to look after their children. This includes feeding them.
R v Gibbins and Proctor - The child's carers failed to feed the child and so the child died. Both found guilty for murder
- A duty voluntarily undertaken
A duty of care may also exist where there the defendant has voluntarily taken responsibility for the wellbeing of a person.
R v Stone and Dobinson - An assumed responsibility of care meant the death was classified as murder
- A duty to limit accidental harm
Where a person causes accidental damage, he is under a duty to take reasonable steps to limit the spread of the damage.
R v Miller - it was possible to create liability by failing to remedy a dangerous situation that one has oneself created and so was guilty for arson
- A duty to the public
A policeman has a duty of care as the holder of a public office
R v Dytham - Failure to act when witnessing a crime imposed liability as he was in a position which owes a general duty of care towards the public
- A duty arising from a statute
Liability will arise where a statute has imposed a duty to take positive action. This most frequently occurs in relation to road traffic offences. For example The Road Traffic Act 1988 imposes a number of duties to act. S7(6) makes it an offence to fail to provide a specimen when required to do so. Similarly, it is an offence not to wear a seat belt.
- A duty voluntarily undertaken
A duty of care may also exist where there the defendant has voluntarily taken responsibility for the wellbeing of a person.
- A duty to limit accidental harm
Where a person causes accidental damage, he is under a duty to take reasonable steps to limit the spread of the damage.
- A duty to the public
A policeman has a duty of care as the holder of a public office
- A duty arising from a statute
Liability will arise where a statute has imposed a duty to take positive action. This most frequently occurs in relation to road traffic offences. For example The Road Traffic Act 1988 imposes a number of duties to act. S7(6) makes it an offence to fail to provide a specimen when required to do so. Similarly, it is an offence not to wear a seat belt.
