Gross Negligence Manslaughter by Omission

Date01 April 2018
DOI10.1177/0022018318761692
AuthorCath Crosby
Published date01 April 2018
Subject MatterComment
Comment
Gross Negligence
Manslaughter by Omission:
The Emergence of a Good
Samaritan Law?
Cath Crosby
Teesside University, UK
Abstract
There has been much academic debate concerning criminal liability for omissions and the
extent to which such liability should be extended. The focus here concerns a recent, unre-
ported, conviction for gross negligence manslaughter which raises the question of how far the
courts and the Crown Prosecution Service are willing to blur existing boundaries of omissions
liability and the established principles of causation. By scrutinising the current legal duties to act
required for such liability to arise in the context of RvBowditch, it will be demonstrated that we
are moving incrementally towards a Good Samaritan law but with an absence of fair warning to
guide citizens. Further, it is apparent from this conviction that the restricted principles of
causation that apply to actions are not as restrictive when applied to omissions. It is clearly
timely for the Law Commission to act to determine appropriate boundaries so that omissions
liability complies with the rule of law.
Keywords
Gross negligence manslaughter, liability for omission, Good Samaritan law, causation
Introduction
This article aims to examine a recent conviction
1
for gross negligence manslaughter which raises issues
of legal and moral culpability. Although the conviction received some media coverage, at the time of
writing it has not received attention in academic literature. The case highlights a difficulty with the gross
negligence manslaughter offence in the context of omissions liability: where did the legal duty to act
arise to substantiate a conviction? This analysis will further question the established principles of
Corresponding author:
Cath Crosby, School of Social Sciences, Humanities & Law, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, UK. TS1 3BX.
E-mail: c.crosby@tees.ac.uk
1. RvBowditch (unreported) Maidstone Crown Court, 26 January 2017.
The Journal of Criminal Law
2018, Vol. 82(2) 127–137
ªThe Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/0022018318761692
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