WJEC/Eduqas A Level Law: Book 1 Revision Guide

Chapter 4 Criminal law Context Causation relates to the causal relationship between conduct and result, and is an important aspect of the actus reus of an offence. There needs to be an unbroken and direct chain of causation between the defendant’s act and the consequences of that act. There mustn’t be a novus actus interveniens that breaks the chain of causation, or else there will be no criminal liability for the resulting consequence. Activity 4.10 Causation There are two types of causation: factual and legal. Include a case for each part of causation. Factual causation Case Legal causation Case The ‘but for’ test The injury must be the operating and substantial cause of death The de minimis rule The ‘thin skull’ test Novus actus interveniens Context Most crimes require both actus reus and mens rea apart from strict liability offences, where only the actus reus needs to be proved to establish liability. There is no need to prove mens rea and there is no fault on the part of the defendant. Therefore, some people feel that strict liability offences are unfair but, as they cover relatively minor crimes, it is generally accepted that they are needed to allow society to run smoothly. They tend to cover regulatory offences such as food hygiene, parking offences and polluting the environment. Absolute liability offences require proof of actus reus only, but are not concerned with whether or not the actus reus is voluntary. They are also known as ‘ state of affairs ’ crimes and, as illustrated in Winzar (1983) and Larsonneur (1933) , the defendant need not even control the actus rea. 152