Actus Reus: Guilty Act and Criminal Liability

• 'Actus reus' translates to 'guilty act' and is a vital part of assessing criminal liability.
• The actus reus of an offense is found in statute or common law.

Factors Determining an Actus Reus

• To find someone liable for an offense, three factors must exist:
  • Guilty conduct by the defendant (actus reus)
  • The defendant's guilty state of mind (mens rea)
  • No valid defense available

Actus Reus Categories

• Actus reus can be categorized into conduct, circumstance, or result:
  • Conduct requires a certain action.
  • Circumstance involves an act that is criminal due to its surrounding context.
  • Result requires a specific outcome from the actions.

Elements of an Offense

• To find someone liable for an offense, three factors exist:
  • Guilty conduct by the defendant (actus reus)
  • The defendant's guilty state of mind (mens rea)
  • No valid defense available

Liability for Omissions

• Actus reus usually requires an action.
• In some cases, a duty to act exists, and omission can satisfy the actus reus.

Duty Arising from a Special Relationship

• The Lukautim Pikinini Act S.8 states that parents or guardians have a duty to maintain a child, including rights to:
  • Adequate nutrition
  • Immunization
  • Clothing
  • Shelter
  • Education and guidance
  • Medical attention
• It is also the duty of anyone with custody of a child to protect that child from discrimination, violence, abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
• Section 8 of the Lukautim Pikinini Act 2015 states parents or guardians have a duty to maintain children.
• It is an offense for a person over 18 with responsibility for a child under 18 to willfully neglect the child.

Duty Arising out of a Danger of One's Own Making

• Someone creating a dangerous situation must take steps to remove the danger.
• Failure to remove the danger may result in criminal liability.

Statutory Duty

• Road Traffic Act requires contractors to place a warning sign where road maintenance is taking place.
• Contractors doing maintenance should place a yellow cone or reflector near a drain or hole.
• Failure to do so, and someone falls into it, is a breach of duty of care.

Medical Treatment

• Doctors must provide patients with proper medical treatment.
• This is removed if a capable patient refuses treatment
• In limited circumstances the court can allow doctors to remove treatment in the patients best interests

Causation

• For a defendant to be liable, their actions must cause harm.
• Causation includes:
  • Factual
  • Legal
• Both of these must be satisfied.

State v Namaliu [2020] PGNC 75; N8284 (18 March 2020) – Berrigan J

• Causation is not a philosophical or scientific matter.
• Causation is a question of fact determined by applying common sense while attributing legal responsibility in a criminal matter.
• The accused owed a duty of care to the deceased under s.287 of the Criminal Code.
• At the time of the offense, the accused was in charge of a motor vehicle.
• This required care since lack of it could endanger his passenger.

State v Namaliu [2020] PGNC 75 – Duty of Care

• The accused breached the duty to protect his passenger.
• He risked harm to the deceased by assaulting them in the moving vehicle
• The accused continued to breach this duty by continuing to assault the deceased and failing to stop the vehicle.
• The risk was extreme, and jumping was the only escape for the deceased.

Legal Causation

• Legal causation limits broad liability, since factual causation is easy to prove.
• Legal causation requires three elements:
  • The cause was substantial.
  • The defendant must be blameworthy.
  • The defendant's actions were operating on the victim when the liability arose.

Moini, The State v [1978] PNGLR 184 (29 May 1978)

• Legal causation establishes the relationship between the defendant's actions and the resulting harm.
• It helps determine whether the defendant is legally responsible based on their actions and the outcome.