FE-1 · Criminal Law · Repeat Question
Criminal liability for omissions
Built on the passage from Birmingham J in The People (DPP) v Joel and Costen on when a duty to act arises. The same quotation, differently trimmed, was set in two of the last five FE-1 Criminal sittings.
Independent LawShortcut model answer. Independently authored by LawShortcut for exam preparation. It reproduces no examination question. LawShortcut is independent of, and not affiliated with or endorsed by, any examining or professional body, including the Law Society of Ireland.
What this model answer covers
Sections in the full LawShortcut model answer:
- Reading the question
- Issue 1 — The general principle: acts, not omissions
- Issue 2 — A legal duty, not a moral one
- Issue 3 — Statutory duty and offences defined to include an omission
- Issue 4 — Contractual duty
- Issue 5 — Relationship
- Issue 6 — Voluntary assumption of care
- Issue 7 — Creating a dangerous situation: the Miller principle
- Issue 8 — Office and public position
- Issue 9 — Causation in omission cases
- Issue 10 — Where the omission sits, and the mens rea that must accompany it
- Issue 11 — Is Birmingham J right that the trend is towards extension?
- Overall advice
Full model answer
Read the complete LawShortcut model answer — reading the question, the law, application to the facts, where the marks live, the authorities relied on and the reusable structure.
Part of the FE-1 Repeat Question Model Answers. Every authority checked against primary sources; nothing cited that has not been verified.
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