Causation and intervening acts in criminal cases


Published by a UUÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ Corporate Crime expert
Practice notes
In-house

Causation and intervening acts in criminal cases


Published by a UUÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ Corporate Crime expert

Practice notes
In-house
imgtext

Criminal offences are generally divided into two categories:

  1. •

    conduct crimes, and

  2. •

    result crimes

A conduct crime is a crime where only the forbidden conduct needs to be proved. For example, an accused is guilty of dangerous driving if they drove a motor vehicle dangerously on a road or other public place. There is no requirement to prove harmful consequences such as injury to another.

A result crime is a crime which causes or results in specified consequences. For example, Murder requires Proof that someone is killed.

For any result crime the prosecution must establish:

  1. •

    a factual link between the conduct of the accused and the result they are alleged to have caused (factual Causation), and

  2. •

    a sufficient cause in law between the conduct of the accused and the prohibited consequences (legal causation)

Factual causation is also known as ‘but for’ causation because it must be established that the result would not have occurred but for the actions of the accused.

If factual causation cannot be established the prosecution

Powered by Lexis+®
Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
Key definition:
Causation definition
What does Causation mean?

Causation comprises the policy definitions on what in law constitutes a factual connection between an act and a consequence that in some way follows from that act.

Read more

Popular documents

Self-defence

Self-defenceSelf-defenceSelf-defence is an absolute defence which applies in crimes committed by force, it applies even in cases of murder. If a jury finds that a defendant was acting in self-defence, they will be acquitted. The common law defence of self-defence was incorporated into statute with

Criminal act or omission

Criminal act or omissionGenerally, for a person to be found guilty of a criminal offence, it must be shown that they:•acted in a particular way which is prohibited, or•failed to act in a particular way (omission), or•brought about a state of affairs•and had the required mental element or mens rea at

Attempt

AttemptA person is guilty of attempting to commit an offence if they do an act that is more than preparatory to the commission of the offence, with the intention of committing an offence. An attempt is an offence of specific intent. It requires an intention to commit an offence. The offence itself

Dishonesty in the criminal law

Dishonesty in the criminal lawDishonesty provides the mens rea for multiple offences under statute and the common law. It is, however, not fully defined by statute. The exception is the Theft Act 1968 (TA 1968), which goes some way towards defining dishonesty but only insofar as certain offences