Criminal Law Basics

Criminal Law

• A set of rules with punishment for breaking them
• Crimes committed against the state, not individuals
• Developed in common law and legislation like the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic)
• Must be established by law before a charge
• Actus reus and mens rea are required for charges
• One cannot be vicariously guilty in criminal law
• The precise act for which one is charged must have been committed
• Presumption of innocence
• Ignorance of the law is no excuse

Actus Reus

• The act of the offense
• Physical act constituting the crime
• Includes voluntary acts, omissions, and causation

Mens Rea

• Mental intention of the offense
• Intent, recklessness, or negligence
• Prosecution must establish that the accused deliberately performed the unlawful act at the time of the crime

Homicide

• Unlawful killing of another person
• Includes murder and manslaughter
• Common law definition dates back to 1797
• Abortion may be lawful if necessary to protect the woman's physical or mental health, provided it does not outweigh the danger the abortion was intended to prevent

Abortion

• Abortion Law Reform Act 2008 (Vic)
• Removed the crime of abortion from the Crimes Act 1958
• Allows medical practitioners to perform abortions up to 24 weeks
• After 24 weeks, two doctors must certify the procedure is appropriate
• Abortion performed by an unqualified person is a crime

Concealing the Birth of a Child

• Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) Section 67
• Any person who conceals the birth of a child, whether the child died before or after birth, is guilty of a summary offense and liable for up to 6 months imprisonment

Infanticide

• Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) section 6
• A woman who causes the death of her child in circumstances that would otherwise constitute murder and at the time of the conduct her mind was disturbed, having not fully recovered from childbirth or developed a disorder related to childbirth, may be charged with infanticide

Negligence/ Murder

• R v Haines NSWSC 1812 - Haines was found guilty of murder after being on probation for receiving complaints from previous nursing jobs
• Haines appealed the verdict, arguing the trial judge’s summing up was unfair to the defense and the judge made various legal errors

Negligence/ Manslaughter

• If a drug was given to a patient and the nurse thought it was the right drug but given with a degree of recklessness, or contraindications were not observed and the patient died, it may amount to manslaughter

Negligence/ Manslaughter: Case Example Yueqiong Fu

• Nursing graduate Yueqiong Fu was charged with manslaughter after injecting a patient with a substance that ended up causing their death. She initially stated she was following a doctor's directions but later admitted she prepared several syringes filled with local anaesthetic as instructed by a doctor and later lied to police. She was prohibited from performing any health-related occupation. The doctor was unlicenced.

Negligence/ Manslaughter: Case Examples (Unreported)

• Ms Huang - suffered cardiac arrest during a procedure to inject dermal fillers in her breasts and died.
• Nymphea Anderson - presented to St George hospital with a number of health issues in 2009. A nurse administered oral medication via an IV drip and Ms Anderson subsequently died. The nurse was charged with manslaughter. After a month long trial, the jury was unable to reach a verdict and the case was dropped. The nurse is no longer a RN.

Cases

• Abortion
• Rape
• FGM (Female Genital Mutilation)
• Drug Overdose
• Double effect

Abortion Case Examples

• A Doctor was found guilty of performing an illegal abortion. The patient was given an abortion drug and sent home. She delivered a fetus at 23 weeks gestation and the baby was pronounced dead in hospital 4 hours later. The doctor was also charged with manslaughter.
• A doctor refused to abort a healthy girl because the patient wanted a boy. The doctor was practicing Catholic and had a conscientious objection to abortions. He was obliged to refer the patient to a doctor who would terminate the pregnancy under the Abortion Law Reform Act 2008 (Vic).

Drug Overdose Case Examples

• A 53 year old patient was given strong painkillers and not closely monitored by staff. The combination of opioids and short intervals between doses resulted in the patient's death.
• A healthy 54 year old patient was given incorrect medication and died from multiple drug toxicity. The coroner's investigation revealed a prescribing error and failures by staff to detect the error.

Double Effect

• Double Effect can explain the permissibility of an action that causes serious harm, such as the death of a human being, as a side effect of promoting good. For an action to comply with the double effect doctrine, the action must be appropriate and not excessive.
• If a patient died due to a medical error, it must be proved that there was mens rea or actus reus present for there to be a criminal case.

Explore the fundamental concepts of criminal law, including the definitions of actus reus and mens rea, the classification of homicide, and essential legal principles. Understand how these elements are established in offenses and their implications under the law.