A Bloody Night :: essays research papers

William Shakespeare once stated, â€Å"For I have sworn thee reasonable, and thought thee brilliant, who workmanship as dark as heck, as dull as night.† Deception has a major influence in the play Macbeth. The play is about a lord who is killed by one of his most believed men attempting to pick up power. During the play Shakespeare increases the state of mind by utilizing different records of symbolism. The blood and night symbolism that Shakespeare utilizes adds to the malicious, dimness and trickery encompassing the play. Night has a job critical during the play. Woman Macbeth calls, â€Å"Come, thick night, And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of heck, That my sharp blade see not the injury it makes, Nor paradise peep through the cover of the dull, To cry "Hold, hold!" Without the lack of clarity of night, she would not have encouraged Macbeth to execute the ruler as she did. The night, notwithstanding, gives her the feeling that Macbeth can to be sure execute King Duncan with nobody revealing his vile wrongdoing, a similar thought that Macbeth had when he stated, "Stars, conceal your flames; Let not light observe my dark and profound desires" It appears as though the entire plot spins around the night and the numerous jobs it holds all through the play.       Shakespeare regularly utilizes murkiness and tempests to portray that malicious happenings are happening or are going to occur. There are in any event three instances of this in Macbeth. The vast majority of the detestable things that Macbeth does in the story happens in the evening time. Lennox states, "... the dark fowl Clamored the entire night. Some state, the earth Was feverous and did shake," in response to Macbeth's first malevolent act, murdering the ruler of Scotland. "The night has been uncontrollable: where we lay, Our smokestacks were blown down; and, as is commonly said, Lamentings heard i’ the air; abnormal shouts of death,..." "Three score and ten I can recall well; Within the volume of which time I have seen Hours of unpleasant and things bizarre, yet this irritated night Hath fooled previous knowings." Both these statements are discussing the evening of Duncan’s passing. They are demonstrating the ex aminations between the regular raucousness and the surprising calamity. In the play, the word â€Å"blood† is referenced various occasions. Shakespeare’s utilization of this specific word is noteworthy; he utilizes it to build up the character of Macbeth and the unfurling occasions of the show.

The Scarlet Letter Analysis of Arthur Dimmesdale Essay Example For Students

The Scarlet Letter Analysis of Arthur Dimmesdale Essay Character Analysis of Arthur DimmesdaleThe Scarlet Letter is an account of characters that need to live and manage theeffects of wrongdoing in various manners. Of these characters, the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale isthe character depicted as the most powerless and unnoble. In spite of this portrayalDimmesdale was a more grounded character than given kudos for. His mind blowing sum ofcontrol in his method of taking care of his weights shows his incredible feeling of solidarity andintellect. We first observe Dimmesdale depicted as an anxious and touchy person. Despitehis external appearance, inside Dimmesdale is a truly steady, resilient individual. Section Threestates that he appeared, apprehensive reasonableness and a huge intensity of poise. While thisseems to invigorate Dimmesdale extraordinary, it is likewise his biggest blemish. His body rejects todo what his heart says is correct. Dimmesdale teaches Hester to uncover reality, yet whenshe declines he doesnt have the self discipline to admit himself. Along these lines, his wrongdoing becomeseven bigger than hers, in light of the fact that while hers is an uncovered sin. He keeps on lying tohimself and his devotees by staying quiet covered up, so his is a hidden sin. HereHawthorne shows us exactly how solid Dimmesdale really is, by permitting him to cover up hissin and bear its heaviness, he makes an amazingly fascinating and enormously strongcharacter. We will compose a custom exposition on The Scarlet Letter Analysis of Arthur Dimmesdale explicitly for you for just $16.38 $13.9/page Request now The platform is the spot that Dimmesdale shows the measure of torment andself-detesting he is genuinely fit for disguising. He understands that he is as much to blame forHesters torment as any normal resident, if not by any means more so. Seven years earlier, Hesterstood in this spot and took the discipline for them two while he discreetly stood asideand persuaded that he additionally censured her. During those long seven years hemade no transition to diminish her heap or his own. Presently Dimmesdale has had all that he canbear and lets out a holler that draws the consideration of individual locals. He reviles himself forhis quiet and weakness. On the platform in the section 23 the genuine indication of solidarity ids uncovered. To admithe isn't right takes quality, yet the way that he held in his wrongdoing accordingly submitting two, one ofthe unique sin, and two of the covering, at that point admitting following quite a while of frustratingcowardice takes a more grounded man. This admission likewise before his unwavering adherents, whohad remained by him without a piece of information of his blame. His death was from the channel of his willwhich was worn and lacking. Dimmesdale was not gutsy in his activities in the story but rather solid. He wasable to worry about the concerns, dissatisfaction , and torment for an incredible duration. Regardless of whether he wasgood, daring, or right in what he did is to stay concealed however the way that he was solid iscertain. â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€

Philosophy Essay Topics About Animals

Philosophy Essay Topics About AnimalsThere are many different philosophy essay topics about animals that one can write about. It is a good idea to ask yourself what your point of view is when you start thinking about this topic. In order to know what your point of view is, you need to be able to identify the philosophical ideas that you hold in common with animals and what is right and wrong about what they do not do.When you are thinking about animals, there are many different things you should consider. For example, we should consider animal rights. Animals have rights like human beings do. If you are an animal lover, it would be nice to see your favorite animal in a museum in your community for you to experience the pleasure of seeing them.Not only is it fun to see animals, but we should also consider their naturalness. It would be great to be able to speak to an animal that is as intelligent as we are.If you care about animals, then there are many different things you can do to h elp them. The first thing you can do is to volunteer in a rescue organization.You may not realize this, but there are plenty of animals that need a home. These are animals that were hurt, injured, or abused. If you choose to volunteer in a rescue organization, you can show your support for these animals by volunteering in their care.You should also consider the type of animal that you care about. If you do not care about animals, you should consider changing your philosophy. You should examine why you feel the way you do about animals. This is why you should start thinking about these things before you start writing your essay.Animals are more than just our food or even pets. There are many different animals that you can use to promote your philosophy.

Global Counter Insurgency And The War On Terror - 1663 Words

Is ‘global counter-insurgency’ a viable strategy in the ‘war on terror’? After the 9/11 attacks in the United States, the War on Terror was the strategy that the Bush government developed with the aim to defeat the organization that had accomplished this attack, Al Qaeda. The immediate response of the Bush Administration after the attack was the invasion of Afghanistan, with the goal of eliminating and expel the targets that had made the country their sanctuary. This group was presented as the main threat of the 21st century, and as the enemy at the global scale. However, the idea of the War on Terror did not employ only in the Afghan context, the Islamic terrorist threat was spread through nine principal theatres . A new phenomenon had†¦show more content†¦With the lessons learned in these areas, Galula returned to France in 1956, the year in which the country was immersed in the Algerian war, which led him to request a command therein. It was here that Galula implemented for the first time their knowledge of COIN. Galula theory is based on the support of the population, an element that is recovered in the doctrine developed by Petraeus. This is divided between an active minority supporting the insurgency, an active minority who would be willing to support the force or forces that promote measures COIN, and finally, a large majority of the population passive (FM 3-24, 2006: 1-20). The aim of COIN operations would therefore gain the support of the active minority that is potentially in their favour, so that this in turn get mobilized the passive majority of the population against the insurgent group. Besides military measures to reduce and eliminate the insurgent forces, for the author it is essential to isolate the population of these groups, in order to avoid a possible mobilization of the same against the interests of the COIN. This will require removing the alleged political organization that insurgent groups have developed in that area, and replace it forces an interim basis to ensure the n ecessary services in the area, and thus add up support within the local population. Based on the classic definition of the term, the insurgency is defined as organized movements aimed at overthrowing aShow MoreRelatedThe Security of the Unnited States1309 Words   |  5 PagesAny discussion relating to future conflict and the implications toward the security of the United States must factor in the complexity of numerous multi-dimensional threats, that undermine global stability. The definition of IW as stated in the Multi-Service Concept for Irregular Warfare follows, â€Å"A form of warfare that has as its objective the credibility of and/or the legitimacy of the relevant political authority with the goal of undermining or supporting that authority. Irregular warfare favorsRead MoreInsurgency4485 Words   |  18 PagesInsurgency Jump to: navigation, search Insurgent and insurgence redirect here. For other uses, see Insurgent (disambiguation). An insurgency is an armed rebellion against a constituted authority (for example, an authority recognized as such by the United Nations) when those taking part in the rebellion are not recognized as belligerents.[1] An insurgency can be fought via counter-insurgency warfare, and may also be opposed by measures to protect the population, and by political and economicRead MoreThe United States War On Terror1996 Words   |  8 PagesStates, the War on Terror was the strategy that the Bush government developed with the aim to defeat the organization that had accomplished this, Al Qaeda. The immediate response of the Bush Administration after the attack was the invasion of Afghanistan, with the goal of eliminating and expel the targets that had made the country their sanctuary. This group was presented as the main threat of the 21st century, and as the enemy at the global scale. However, the idea of the War on Terror did not employRead MoreThe Implications Of The Bush Speech - Rooting O ut Terrorism974 Words   |  4 PagesThe implications of the Bush speech – rooting out terrorism in the world – taken from a modern standpoint, lend to the ethical evaluation of the address. Bush makes clear the notion that the global community condemns terrorism and any extremist activity; however, what type of policy agenda does Bush have in mind when making the address? In the years following the September 11 attacks, United States military action – particularly in the Middle East – escalated dramatically. Bush notes in his speech:Read MoreSecurity and Internaional Regimes1091 Words   |  5 Pagesessay argued, after the war on terror, there are several changes in conceptualizing â€Å"Security†. Firstly, the concept of security become more complex and paradoxical in nature due to the construction of concepts by the terrorist’s strategy accompanied by globalization, and the unanticipated insecurity caused by the US’s use of mi litary force. Secondly, despite the paradox arisen from the use of military force, a new risk-based regime has developed over the years of war on terror, broadening the notionRead MoreForeign Internal Defense Of North Africa1504 Words   |  7 Pages FOREIGN INTERNAL DEFENSE IN NORTH AFRICA Michael Watson Terrorism and Counter Terrorism May 15, 2016  In the United State’s led Global War on Terror; the best battles are the ones won before they even start. The way this is achieved is through a strategy called Foreign Internal Defense. Foreign Internal Defense is â€Å"the major military to military advisory effort under National Assistance†1. What that means is Special Operations Forces and conventional military forcesRead MoreDrone Strikes and Their Effectiveness Essay2667 Words   |  11 Pagesan effective counter insurgency tool deployed extensively throughout the world, especially by clandestine intelligence organizations often with the help of the country’s respective Air Force. Not only do they serve as an effective weapon, they minimize human risk. This paper aims to establish this very fact despite the drone’s reputation as a means of violating a nation’s sovereignty and resulting in the loss of precious civilian lives. Question How effective are drones in the war against militancyRead MoreConventional Warfare During The 21st Century1861 Words   |  8 PagesConventional warfare is increasingly ill-suited to fighting and winning wars in the 21st Century. Critically evaluate that claim. You should refer in your answer to examples of contemporary conflicts. Throughout Human history Mankind have fought against each other, wagging war against their neighbours for territory, resources, ideology and a myriad of other reasons. Over the ages the way we wage war has changed, leaps forward in technology and tactics where made frequently, each Nation trying toRead MoreFuture Of Terrorism And Its Future Prospects Within Pakistan1598 Words   |  7 Pagesthe world are threatened by such diverse forms and manifestations of terrorism as we are; both in the present and futuristic context. There are external influences and there are internal dissentions. While the vested interests of the regional and global players denote one facet, the socio-political fault lines that exist within, constitute the other dimension of the problem. Finally a large array of foreign and Pakistan based terrorist organizations with varying agendas; add yet another angle toRead MoreDefensive Cyberspace Initiatives Essay1553 Words   |  7 PagesThe international political a rena of the twenty-first century has largely been demarcated by the national security strategies of the United States. The keystone of these strategies has been the United States’ Global War on Terror and it has beguiled not only the U.S., but a majority of the Westernized governments into an over decade long conflict, extending across the globe. This more than decade long commitment to anti and counterterrorism operations has not only revolutionized contemporary warfare

Juvenile Probation Officers Work With High Risk Teens

As described by Kelly Peterson juvenile probation officers work with high risk teens along with their peers, family, work, school and involved activities. People like Kelly do there best to try and keep juveniles out of the adult system and further criminal systems. Over the course of Kelly’s visit she talked about many things some main points being; Her caseload and how she manages it, the main kinds of cases she deals with, and the court experience of people in the juvenile system. Kelly stated that at one time she could have up to thirtyfive cases. She would usually have cases of kids who were the ages fifteen or above, but sometimes she would even have a twelve year old on her caseload. Kelly said it is somewhat easy for her to keep her cases organized because she is assigned certain schools or areas. For example if a kid committed a crime near the town of mapleton she would than take on that case because it fell in her designated area. Crimes that were committed somewhere beside her area would be handed to another juvenile probation officer. Another thing that Kelly talked about was the kinds of case she gets and what crimes she comes across most often. Kelly mostly comes across crimes that involved chemical dependence. For example either on alcohol, THC or synthetic drugs. Another big one that is a problem is truancy. She explained that truancy case usually come from families that don t take thing seriously or from families that are not stable or connected. KellyShow MoreRelatedJuvenile Justice And Its Effects On Society1722 Words   |  7 PagesJuvenile justice is compared in chapter thirteen. In the nineteenth century, there was an increased number of children at risk and chronic poverty. This overall was a general concern because there was an increase of people in the â€Å"dangerous classes†. There was a child saving movement, in which the poor children represented a threat to the moral fabric of society. The nineteenth century was a ti me where they had a house of refuge. In this house of refuge, they had a society for the prevention of pauperismRead MoreThe Effects Of Juvenile Delinquency On Teens864 Words   |  4 PagesTheses can also affect teens that increase-doing crimes in which it called juvenile delinquency. There are two terms that define juvenile delinquency, 1: conduct by a juvenile characterized by antisocial behavior that is a beyond parental control and therefore subject to legal action; 2: a violation of law committed by a juvenile and not punishable by death or live imprisonment. (Cite). In this topic, I will explain more about family factors in which it has major influence on teens such as the way parentsRead MoreA Historical Look At The Concept Of Juvenile Justice1394 Words   |  6 Pages1. Chapter 13 is a historical look at the concept of juvenile justice. What did you learn from reading this chapter? At the beginning of the nineteenth century delinquent, neglected, and runaway children in the United States were left with very little guidance and help from the government and the court system. Unlike today there was no voice for those kids who were neglected and left to find there own ways of survival which most likely ment that they would have to turn to crime to survive. If thatRead MoreThe Juvenile Justice System Police2399 Words   |  10 Pagescontact with a police officer often is a young person s introduction to the juvenile justice system police account for most referrals to juvenile court. Law enforcement s role with boys and girls under the age of eighteen is challenging because there are laws that federally protect youth that commit serious crimes and attempts to aid them in a road to recovery to return to their communities. Police officers generally summon young offenders to the police department s juvenile division to questionRead MoreJuvenile Justice and Rehabilitati on2500 Words   |  10 PagesJuvenile Justice and Rehabilitation When discussing rehabilitation or punishment for juvenile delinquents, I believe there should be rehabilitation over punishment. Granted there are numerous cases that completely warrant punishment, but punishment isn’t always the answer. Adults are usually given second, third and fourth chances to change their lives. And sometimes rehabilitation isn’t involved. I believe since adolescents still have plenty of time to get counseling or learn about themselvesRead MoreJuvenile Justice System Is The Fundamental System1840 Words   |  8 PagesThe Juvenile Correction System is the fundamental system used to address and deal with youth who are caught and convicted of crimes, such as murder, robbery, and aggravated assault. The juvenile justice system gets involved in delinquent behavior through police, court, and correctional commitment. Throughout history, many individuals have tried to change the policies and process of the juvenile correction system. Some agree with the s tructure of incarceration and the treatment these teens â€Å"deserve†Read MoreAnalysis Of The Giddings State School Capital Offenders Programs1623 Words   |  7 Pages Rehabilitation for at risk teens has been an ongoing issue that runs deep in certain communities. When kids at young ages are exposed to stress and have to cope early on with dysfunction they are denied the opportunity to mature and conditioned to commit thinking errors that perpetuate a young offender into an adult offender. To find ways to break this cycle John Hubner accounts his time on the Giddings State School Capital Offenders Program and how a group of counselors are able to combine manyRead MoreJustice System Position Paper1845 Words   |  8 PagesPhoenix Introduction to Juvenile Justice Timothy Cariker March 5, 2011 Justice system position paper The purpose of this paper is to state my belief that juveniles should and can be rehabilitated. The goals and efforts of rehabilitation are to keep the juvenile offenders out of the correctional facility. Peers impact delinquencyRead MoreFalling Back By Jamie Fader1585 Words   |  7 Pagesinvolved in drug offenses and violence within their suburban communities and were now in the process of behavioral change in order to help them reflect and be able to make better decisions which would lead them to a better life. Fader observed these juveniles as they transitioned back to urban Philadelphia where they would resume their daily lives and also struggle to adopt adult masculine roles: â€Å"After these young men demonstrated sufficient change to earn their release or, more typically staff membersRead MoreJuvenile Delinquents and Drug Abuse Essay examples1501 Words   |  7 PagesDoes only the juvenile drinking or drugging up suffer, or do others get involved? The answer is, not only do the users suffer, but so do their family, friends, and the community. However, due to the rise of juveniles becoming involved in substance abuse, the juvenile justice system has resulted in an increased burden. Over the past fifteen years, the fad of drug use among kids has steadily been increasing. Persistent substance abuse among youth is often accompanied by an array of problems, including

Lives of Saints Christinas Strength In Resisting Essay Example For Students

Lives of Saints: Christinas Strength In Resisting Essay Societys DemandsLives of Saints: Christinas Strength In Resisting Societys DemandsAs you grow older it is inevitable that you will change in many ways. As amatter of fact it is impossible to survive without the ability to adapt tosituations and surroundings. This ability is acquired as you age, learn andexperience life. It is a part of growing up and society demands that you adaptand conform to their mores and customs. It is always difficult to veer from thepath of uniformity which society leads. Many times you are able to slip byunnoticed with a minor variance from this path. However, when someone decides toblatantly blaze their own trail, often society makes their further growth anddevelopment a difficult task. As a result the community only toleratesacquiescence and conformity. Like the character Cristina in Nino Riccis novelLives of the Saints, it is only the most tenacious that can resist caving in tothe pressure. Often, this deviance can harm others, not just the dissident. Vittorio iscontinually badgered for the deeds his mother performed, and he is too innocentto realize that, her independence of spirit is the reason. As well, Cristinasfather does not see past the cloud which has slowly been built up in Valle delSole. The cloud which prevents most people from seeing how the failure to be anindividual rules the town, and how anyone with the nerve to be unique isostracized. Cristinas fathers failure to understand this leads to the declineand eventually their total destruction of the family structure. In many ways, the story of the character Cristina in the novel is similarto the story of Saint Christina. They both endure considerable suffering forstanding up for their beliefs. In both cases they have whole villages opposingthem, and neither of them give in, thus proving how strong they are. In the end,Santa Christina and Cristina end up leaving behind these villages for a betterexistence. The villagers continuous attention to whatever Cristina does, prevents herfrom living her life as she would like. Cristinas only choice is to keep toherself and go about the tedious and repetitive housework she does day in andday out. This prevents any advance in her development and growth, she is leftlike a skipping record playing the same thing over and over, not making anyprogress in her life. In Nino Riccis novel Lives of the Saints, Cristinas surprising strengthto resist societys demands is vital in showing how society can control people. In todays world one must realize this and learn to take it in stride. Everyonemust grow and change, it is a fact of life and a necessity as much as sex is. Society should not be the only influence to the way an individual thinks or acts,because who really decides what is acceptable or not in societys eyes?English

The Outline of the Gempei War an Example of the Topic History Essays by

The Outline of the Gempei War by Expert Dr Olivia | 26 Dec 2016 Introduction Essay Need essay sample on "The Outline of the Gempei War" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed This was a civil war between two clans namely the Taira and the Minamoto which was started in the year 1180 after emperor Takakura decided his two year old son Antoku instead of the legitimate prince Mochihito. Due to this Mochihito declared war unto the Taira and he was joined the Minamoto clan led by Yorimasa. It brought to an end the leadership of the Taira clan through a one Minamoto no Yorimasa when he mutinied against Taira no Kiyomori thus ending the heian era and bringing in military rule or the Kamakura Bakufu. Taira responded quickly and this led to the death of Mochihito within months and Yorimasa was terribly defeated, but his three sons namely Yoritomo, Noriyori, and Yoshitsune were spared death but banished to Uzi instead. This was a big mistake Taira had made since it is Yorimasas eldest son who was to defeat Taira many years to come. College Students Usually Tell EssayLab writers: I'm don't want to write my essay. Because I don't have the time Essay writer professionals propose: Custom Essays - Easy And Quickly With Essaylab.Com The Rise of Yoritomo It was in the eighth month of the year 1180 when Yoritomo declared war against the Taira clan and declared himself the lordship of the province east of Japan. He also declared that he would be issuing land grants to all his followers after getting it from his enemies. His declaration was a clear challenge to the courts nobility and this brought the first non-centralized political power in Japans history. Despite the fact that Yoritomo had started the war with a lot of enthusiasm, in 1181 to1182 there was no war since he had no army to fight. The Death of Kiyomori The Taira were dealt a big blow by the death of the old Kiyomori in February 1811 and the country was plunged into uncertainty and lawlessness. Looting became common between warring clans as they used this as an excuse to attack one another and grab land from peasants. Yoritomo was ready to enter in real blown war in 1813 with the help of his cousin Minamoto Yoshinaka as he triumphed against Taira in Kurikawa and again in Tokyo when Taira was been led by Taira Munemori, a son to Kiyomori. Yoritomo, with the help of his brothers was able to overthrow Taira in Shikoku and his northern stronghold of Kyushu. The entire remnants of the Taira leadership were cleared in the year 1185 on the 24th day of April at the peninsula of Dannoura. There had been other wars in Japan before but the Gempei war was very significant. The triumph of Yoritomo After Yoritomo realized that he couldnt defeat the Taira clan alone, he formed an alliance with other clans in order to form an army strong enough to challenge Taira. After they defeated Taira they abolished aristocratic rule and instead formed new offices and nominated warriors who were loyal to them during the war. This went a long way in limiting the powers of the courts although the system was not stronger as compared to the alliances. The military aristocrats and the noble didnt immediately feel the lasting implications which were brought about by the governmental change. The Minamoto rule did not try in any way to eliminate the courts altogether but he and his close allies very generous to various noble entities who had prestige in cultural matters. After the War Yoritomo made an agreement with Go-Shirakawa towards the end of 1185 which gave him the control of a new system of warrior like police. He gave his allies many of these offices who used them for their own selfish needs. Yoritomo had brought up decentralization of power by having his office at Kamakuri since previously all the power was from Tokyo. Although the police otherwise known as jito and shugo was made up mostly by his allies he still needed their support to rule. Although the police had powers Yoritomo respected the nobility of the courts but most of the powers of the court had been transferred to the warrior government. Conclusion It was the high handedness of the Taira clan which led to the start of this war; and although it took many years for the Minamoto clan to win it was good for them. I think that it was the perseverance of the Minamotos that led to their triumph. One would loose but there was always another one ready to continue. There was a time when Yoritomo was on the verge of giving up but he held on to the war and he finally won although the death of Kiyomori played a significant role in the war. Bibliography Hall John Whitney, Government and Local Power in Japan, 500 to 1700: A Study Based on Bizen Province, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1966 Schomp Virginia, Japan in the Days of the Samurai, NY, Marshall Cavendish Publishers, 1998 Seal F.W., Gempei War, retrieved on 19th, November, 2008, available at www.samurai-archives.com/Gempeiwar.html Turnbull Stephen R., The Samurai: A Military History, London, Routledge Publishers, 1996 Yamamura Kozo, Hall John Whitney, Jansen Marius B. The Cambridge History of Japan: Medieval Japan, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1990

The Harmful Effects of Body Piercings on the Body essays

The Harmful Effects of Body Piercings on the Body essays HARMFUL EFFECTS OF BODY PIERCING ON EVERYDAY LIFE A great number of teenagers and young adults have a body piercing. These can range anywhere from your belly button to your tongue. There are many effects it can have on you socially, or physically. This essay will describe the social aspects of body piercing, this includes first impressions, types of friends, and job prospects. First impressions are important to many people. To some individuals body piercing may seem frightening or intimidating. The person with the piercing may be treated differently in a store. They might be watched more carefully to prevent shoplifting just because of this piercing. Some sales clerks might do this because they got the impression the customer was dangerous or suspicious. These presumptions come along with other physical traits such as race or dress. Social groups come in many types. People with body piercing might be accepted into a group or rejected from one because of it. Some might assume because of the piercing the individual would automatically fit in with the group. This assumption might be related to the fact that the musicians the group listens to also have body piercing. The exact opposite also holds true for those who would be rejected from a group because of the piercing. Last, and most importantly body piercing may affect your job. There have been controversies over facial piercing in fast food restaurants. Also, if you are taking an interview and you have a visible piercing the interviewer may feel intimidated or think negatively toward you. The company may have a policy against piercing. They may make you seem immature or irresponsible. Some people feel they are a form of self-mutilation. Therefore, the employer and/or interviewer may think the applicant has no respect for his body. Mostly subconsciously employers are biased about such things as piercing. There is no science to it, and the only way t ...

A Story Called Unconditional English Literature Essay

Very few minutes in life can convey a adult male to rupture on the happiest twenty-four hours of his life. The events that lead up to this twenty-four hours of extreme joy are filled with concern and uncertainty. We find ourselves worrying about the things that could travel absolutely incorrect and doubting our abilities to get by with the changing of our lives. One of these minutes is the twenty-four hours you are introduced to a new life. The twenty-four hours your kid is brought into this universe in all their flawlessness and inexperienced persons. On this twenty-four hours we learn the true definition of unconditioned love. I sat in a little infirmary room listening to the sounds of adult females shouting in child birth emanating through the door. Nervous and perspiration, I did my best to conceal my uncomfortableness as I tried to soothe the adult female that would convey my boy into this universe. She had been in labour for three yearss now. I knew she was in tormenting hurting and I would non allow her see the concern in my face. This proven hard as I struggled with my ain concerns and uncertainty. My focal point, nevertheless, was to stay unagitated and insure that she felt every bit comfy as possible while she went through the hurting of kid birth. My married woman, Arica, was in and out of slumber, non holding slept much in the past three yearss. The hurting would come with the contractions but as it subsided she would fall back asleep. It was in these minutes of remainder that I let my resoluteness, to conceal my concerns, faux pas and the grounds covered my face. Siting down to counterbalance for the overpowering weight that was on my shoulders I looked over at my female parent, who was besides at that place to see her grandson enter the universe, and she began to soothe me. Equally long as you do your best everything will turn out mulct. my female parent assured me. But before I could reply, I heard the small computing machine Begin to do the Tell narrative honking sounds that meant a contraction had started and immediately snapped back into comfort manner. As Arica began to groan in torment and submerge out the other shrieks that could be heard throughout the ward, I jumped back to my pess and rapidly grabbed her manus a s if I had neer allow it travel. The physician was in and out every 30 proceedingss to look into on her dilation and give a brief conjecture on how much longer it would be. I knew he had to be busy as it sounded like there were at least 3 other adult females giving birth. As the hours passed I began to happen it more hard to keep in my concerns inquiring the nurse Does it usually take this long? She replied with a smiling this kid is obstinate and cosy. She so assured me these things take clip. Feeling somewhat better I readied myself as I heard the bleeps coming from that small raging computing machine once more. At long last the physician re-entered the room and said, It s clip with a large smiling. Taking his small axial rotation about stool, he looked at me and said, You want to catch him? Confused and astounded that this would even come up, I remained quiet and every bit still as a marble statue. Then before I knew it I was being shunted into topographic point following to the physician. As Arica began to force I became more and more nervous. What was the physician believing? I had no experience in child birth. What if I drop him? I asked. Oh do nt worry about it said the physician I m right here if anything goes incorrect. As my kid began to coronate I knew it was merely a affair of clip before my unequal parturition accomplishments were put to the trial. Yet before I even had the clip to come to this decision my boy was dropping into my outstretched, towel covered custodies. Thankfully the physician was right following to me. I had non taken into history how slippery a new born kid was and as he slipped off from me the physician stepped in and took control. As I looked at this beautiful creative activity clip came to a hault. He was perfect in every manner. Certain he had a cone shaped caput and he was covered in blood, but I knew theses things would go through. I took in every characteristic of his bantam organic structure, from his bantam, wrinkled fingers to his outstandingly beautiful sky bluish eyes. What was likely seconds felt like an infinity and my boy was rapidly swooped out of my custodies. I wanted to protest at this indignation, but I rapidly realized that it was for the good of my boy. I took this minute to look at my married woman, whom I had stopped soothing after I was asked to show my kid catching abilities. I could see in her face the contemplation of my emotions. The absolute felicity and joy of this twenty-four hours would populate on timelessly in our Black Marias. I took her manus once more and tried to talk but establish my pharynx blocked. I told myself I would nt yield to cryings, but found myself fighting to keep them. I think she knew what I wanted to state because she smiled at me and nodded her caput. And at that really minute the cryings that I had been fighting to keep back came out like a waterfall. The following thing that happened took me wholly by surprise. Finally drawing myself back together, I noticed the physician transporting a five gallon pail. Showing my ignorance once more I asked What s that for? Smiling, he looked at me and said you will see . He moved his small axial rotation around stool and replaced it with this five gallon pail. Cocking my caput to the side in arrant confusion I looked once more toward my female parent for account, but she was paying attending to the newborn kid being cared for by the nursing staff. Before I could acquire her attending and inquire I heard the physician say all right one last good push . I turned back merely in clip to see a ball of what looked similar blood but thicker and about flesh like. Nasty! I exclaimed, holding been caught wholly off guard and unable to keep from shouting. My female parent hearing me turned about and scowled Charlie that was nt really nice . The physician began to laugh stating I thought you mi ght state something like that . After being taken to the nurses station, cleaned and checked by the physician my beautiful boy was laid into the weaponries of my married woman. I could see in her face the absolute love that was make fulling my bosom and psyche. Once once more tearful and unable to talk, I looked at the both of them lying in that infirmary bed and knew this would be one of the happiest yearss of my life. I eventually understood why my parents had put up with me through my rebellious and experimental old ages. There was perfectly nil this kid could make that would alter the manner I felt about him in this ageless minute of pure joy. On this twenty-four hours I was introduced to the proper usage of the commonly used term unconditioned love. Prior to this I had thought that the love that I felt for my married woman was unconditioned. However, I found the love we felt for one another was conditional common feelings. It relied on love and committedness which can melt over clip. This love, nevertheless, was unchanging, deathless, and neer stoping love. Nothing could alter the effortless love I felt toward this new life.

Common assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Common assessment - Essay Example In the United States, it is the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) that sets the GAAP standards for private firms while it is the IASB sets principles for international accountants (Horngren et al, 2008). Compliance with GAAP is mandatory by every business operating in the USA. Corporations that are public companies are closely monitored by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to ensure their compliance to GAAP. II. GAAP and description of the accounting principles In the GAAP there exists accounting principles which also serves as measurements of conventions that are significant which are cost recording, revenue recognition and the matching principle. The recognition principle states that a company records revenues in its accounts only when it has earned and realized the revenue (Horngren et al, 2008 p.703). Revenues therefore cannot be recognized if it has not been earned. A second important convention is the matching principle which states that revenues must be li nked to the expenses associated with them. Accountants apply the matching principle by identifying the revenue recognized during a period and by linking the expenses to the recognized revenue directly ( Horngren, 2008 p.703). The Cost Principle This GAAP accounting principle states that the recording of cost must be at their fair market price. Fair market price is determined by the amount reflected on documents accompanying the goods and/or services to ensure objectivity and accuracy of accounting when purchases are made. The effect of this costing principle on assets is that its value will not change until the market value of the asset changes. To effect this change in the books according to GAAP principle, a new require a new transaction as an evidence to effect the change of the value of the asset. In cases where objective evidence is not available to ascertain cost, the transaction can instead be recorded at its fair market value as determined by a third party appraiser (McKeown , 1973). The Revenue Recognition Convention The recognition principle states that a company records revenues in its accounts only when it has earned and realized the revenue (Horngren, 2008 p.703). Revenue cannot be recognized if it has not been earned. This principle states that revenue must only be completed and recorded into a company’s books when the transaction is already completed. This means that revenue will only be recorded once actual payment is received. On occasions when transactions involve huge projects which take a very long time to finish such as construction of buildings, revenue is done an accrual basis whereby it will bill its client on periodic basis on the amount of work that has been done or completed and recognize the revenue even if there is still work in progress (Klueh, 2009). Recognizing revenue correctly is important to the accuracy of the financial statements because earning is a critical aspect of a financial statement which can affect the compan y’s many stakeholders. The Matching Principle A second important convention is the matching principle which states that revenues must be linked to the expenses associated with them. Accountants apply the matching principle by identifying the revenue recognized during a period and by linking the expenses to the recognized revenue directly (Horngren, 2008 p.703). This can be likened to the revenue recognition principle whereby expenses related to the revenue that were earned during a certain accounting period must be reflected in the books of the

Do you think our desire to create and solve puzzles is physiologically Essay

Do you think our desire to create and solve puzzles is physiologically determined, i.e., instinctual Culturally determined P - Essay Example To quote Danesi, solving puzzles is â€Å"An instinctual need to search out definite, reassuring, small-scale answers. ... Filling in the little squares with clear-cut answers seems, in its own minuscule way, to negate the existential emptiness that human beings unconsciously feel" (Romano). It is an innate knowledge that is within all of us that it only needs to be teased for our puzzle solving capability to come out (Infantry). In other words, puzzles are our attempt to find answers to our universe and the phenomena that surrounds us. We find it engaging because it is fun and amuses us that we usually respond when we are challenged by a puzzle. Since puzzles are within us and our ability to respond to the challenge of puzzles is instinctive, culture is not a factor to it because we have it regardless where we came from. It can be psychological in a way because our curiosity to solve puzzles is embedded in our psyche and all it takes for that capability to come is to be challenged or teased by a problem, be it a word riddle, an abstract problem or a mathematical problem. This natural ability of man to solve puzzle has served us well because through our natural inclination to solve puzzles led us to the discovery of many disciplines in arts and sciences that ranged from mathematics, economics, cognitive science, philosophy among others. From the problems posed by building the great pyramids of Egypt came the invention of the Pythagorean Theorem which in itself a riddle because it will allow us to solve the length of one of the lines once we know the other two lines. In modern times, our curiosity with how the market work is best explained by solving the various variables of how supply affects demand and vice versa. This inherent penchant for engaging in puzzles has also helped expand our horizon seeing worlds beyond us that extend to the realm of imagination as narrated by fictions and novels that keeps us hooked on what will happen next. We inadvertently lear n because we became so engrossed in the narration not noticing that we have been drawn to an entirely different universe. Indeed, our natural fascination with solving puzzles has benefited us in countless ways. Civilization and its accompanying technology may not be as what it is as we know today without the discoveries that was initiated by our curiosity to solve puzzles. My personal experience with puzzles My personal experience with puzzles used to be equally puzzling until I stumbled on Danesi in class who explained the reasons of our natural curiosity to solve things. I never thought of myself as a puzzle solver or really into it. But strangely, I noticed that I have not reneged any invitation to solve a puzzle. Once I started, I cannot even help but to be engaged with the challenge and do my best to solve it to the point that I lose track of time. The best example I can give is the Sudoko game which involves heavy mathematics. I thought I would never be interested with it know ing that math is not my forte but when a friend taught me the mechanics of the game, I cannot help but dabble myself into it, taking challenge after another until I got it. I progressed without even noticing it. I can remember that I got addicted to it that I used to spend the whole day solving Sudoku puzzles without even realizing how much time has lapsed. I also now understand why I am addicted to

Intelligence Used for Academic Success :: essays research papers

Is it possible for students to be successful without being aware of their strengths and weaknesses? Do students know how important is to recognize their own abilities? Do they know how to use their intelligences in order to improve understanding of a material that they have to study? Achieving academic goals is impossible without recognizing those strengths. As for me, the three strongest abilities that I possess are spatial, interpersonal and linguistic intelligence, and using them helps me to survive in academic jungle. Spatial is one of the intelligences that help me be a better learner. Since I’ m a visual type, it is helpful for me to drew pictures in order to visualize the material that I’ m reading about. Also, while I study, I like to highlight important sentences. When I try to recall the lesson that I read, I know exactly where positions of those highlighted sentences in the book are. Next, spatial intelligence helps me to be successful in arranging my papers and books. Without having that ability my folders would easily turn into a big mess. To illustrate, one of my classmates called me yesterday, asking me for information about some topic that we discussed last semester. At that moment, I knew exactly in which folder I have that information. Another intelligence that I possess is interpersonal, which is very important in relations with others, especially during school time. As for me, it’s easy to make new friendships, and get in touch with people. I have changed a lot of schools so far, and if I hadn’t been able to adapt, I would have given up. When I’ m in the classroom, surrounded with people that I don’t know well, I’ m always ready to participate in discussion. Besides, I have a lot of friends. Since I’ m a good listener, they always come to me with their personal problems. For instance, once when my friend was put on probation for financial aid because she didn’t have good grades, she called me and asked for a help. Even though I couldn’t help her materially, she said that just talking to me made her feel better. Afterward, I convinced her to call her parents and explain them her situation. Finally, linguistic intelligence is my strongest. This intelligence is very important for students who live and study in foreign countries. My ability to communicate through languages makes my college life easier, and helps me be a better student.

Mens Rea

2 The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea Introduction The traditional starting point for the study of criminal law is the constituents of a criminal offence: actus reus (often referred to as the prohibited conduct, but more accurately described as the external elements of the offence) and mens rea (often referred to as the mental element, but more accurately described as the fault element). Commentators and students alike want to ? d consistency and certainty in the application and development of the criminal law, and most criminal law textbooks dealing with the elements of crimes try to state principles that the student should see consistently applied in later chapters covering speci? c offences. The main problem is that the offences have developed in a piecemeal fashion, exhibiting no underlying rationale or common approach. Thus in examining actus reus, the student might be covering an offence de? ned in modern terms, e. g. , by the Criminal Damage Act 1971, or in obscur e outdated language, e. . , in the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, or the de? nition of actus reus may arise from the common law, perhaps amended or augmented by statute, e. g. , murder. Similarly, when we examine our approach to mens rea, we can see little common ground. If the offence requires the prosecution to prove intention, this must generally be left to the jury without detailed guidance from the trial judge (R v Moloney [1985] 1 All ER 1025); but if recklessness is the issue, a direction spelling out to the jury what they must ? d may be required. If one looks at the development of the concept of recklessness one can see that, prior to the decision of the House of Lords in R v G [2003] 4 All ER 765, a case involving criminal damage would have involved a court in trying to assess whether the defendant was reckless according to the de? nition laid down in Metropolitan Police Commissioner v Caldwell [1981] 1 All ER 961. Following the abandonment of ‘Caldwell reckle ssness’ in R v G [2003] 4 All ER 765, the issue has been simpli? d so that a court now has to concentrate on whether or not the defendant was aware of the risk in question and if so, whether or not, in the circumstances known to the defendant, it was unreasonable for him to take the risk. The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea 9 If dishonesty is the mens rea (see Theft Acts 1968–1996) the jury must consider two speci? c questions (would ordinary people consider D dishonest? ; if so, did D realize that they would? ); but these are questions of fact for them to resolve (R v Ghosh [1982] 2 All ER 689).In other words, there are three different approaches in establishing the mens rea for different offences. A search for consistency is therefore a futile exercise! Students should therefore be aware that studying the chapters on actus reus and mens rea can produce a distorted impression of the criminal law. One is dealing with concepts in isolation and could form th e impression that these general principles are consistently applied. One particular criticism is that the criminal law is not consistent in applying objective or subjective tests for liability. Objective tests consider what the reasonable person would have foreseen.Subjective tests judge the defendant on the facts as he honestly believed them to be. There appears to be an absence of any underlying rationale and the offences develop independently of each other. One can understand why Sir Henry Brooke (former head of the Law Commission) and many others wish for codi? cation of some, if not all, of the criminal law (see [1995] Crim LR 911—‘The Law Commission and Criminal Law Reform’). Even established concepts that have been applied by the courts for many years, may suddenly come under attack and be interpreted differently by the judiciary.Thus the House of Lords in Attorney-General’s Reference (No. 3 of 1994) [1997] 3 All ER 936, reversed the Court of Appeal decision ([1996] 2 WLR 412), holding that the doctrine of transferred malice could not apply to convict an accused of murder when he deliberately injured a pregnant woman in circumstances where the baby was born alive but subsequently died. Lord Mustill criticized the doctrine as having no sound intellectual basis and involving a ? ction, although the Criminal Law Review disagrees with his view ([1997] Crim LR 830).In this chapter questions have been chosen to cover all major aspects of this area. There are some problem questions, but candidates should expect the essay questions in an exam to be selected from these topics. Essays are therefore included on the important aspects of mens rea: intention and recklessness. Question 1 The practice of leaving the issue of intention to the jury without any judicial guidance as to its meaning is unworkable and likely to produce inconsistent decisions. Discuss this statement with reference to decided cases. CommentaryThere have been so many i mportant decisions on this important aspect of criminal law, that it is always likely to be the subject of an examination question. 10 The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea Because the facts of R v Moloney [1985] 1 All ER 1025 are so well known, there is a temptation simply to regurgitate them with the House of Lords’ decisions. This must be resisted as there are many ingredients in the answer, which requires careful planning and organization. In summary, this is a question where it is quite easy to obtain a pass mark but dif? cult to obtain a high grade. Answer plan Mens rea †¢ Intention—de? nition †¢ Moloney [1985]—‘the golden rule’ †¢ Woollin [1998]—direction on intention †¢ Law Commission No. 218 Suggested answer Except with strict (or absolute) liability offences, in order for an accused to be found guilty of a criminal offence, the prosecution must prove that the accused committed the actus reus of the off ence with the appropriate mens rea. Mens rea generally signi? es blameworthiness, although in R v Kingston [1994] 3 All ER 353, the House of Lords con? rmed that the accused was guilty of an offence requiring the prosecution to prove intention, although he was morally blameless.Mens rea is the mental element, which varies from one offence to another; but generally, for the more serious offences, it comprises intention or recklessness, with intention being reserved for the most serious crimes. One would therefore think that, being of such fundamental importance, intention would be speci? cally de? ned and rigidly applied, but this is not the case. There have always been dif? culties with the concept of intention within the criminal law. What is it? How should it be de? ned? How do the prosecution prove it? How does the trial judge direct the jury?These issues have been the subject of much judicial and academic debate in recent years. Although the word ‘intention’ implies purpose or even desire, there have been many diverse de? nitions by the judiciary, and commentators have also identi? ed different types of intention. First, direct intent, where it was the accused’s purpose or motive to bring about a result. Thus in R v Steane [1947] 1 All ER 813, the accused, who assisted the enemy during the war, had his conviction quashed as the court decided that he did not intend to assist the enemy; he intended to protect his family, who would have been harmed had he not cooperated.Secondly, oblique intent, where the accused does not necessarily desire the result but foresees it as highly probable. Thus in Hyam v DPP [1974] 2 All ER 41, the House of Lords upheld a conviction for murder where the The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea 11 accused had set ? re to the victim’s house even though the accused’s purpose had been only to frighten the victim. Because there was evidence that the accused foresaw that death or grievous bodi ly harm was highly probable the House of Lords felt justi? d in concluding that her state of mind could be regarded as a form of intent (on this matter the law is now as set out in R v Woollin [1998] 4 All ER 103—see below). Thirdly, ulterior intent, where it must be shown that in intentionally doing one act the accused has a related purpose. Thus to be guilty of burglary under s. 9(1)(a) of the Theft Act 1968, it is necessary for the prosecution to prove that the accused, when deliberately entering a building as a trespasser, did so with a speci? c related purpose in mind, e. g. , to steal or commit criminal damage. It would not be suf? ient if the accused intentionally broke into the house with the sole purpose of sheltering from the weather. The terms speci? c and basic intent, are also used in respect of the defence of intoxication to distinguish between those offences where intoxication is permitted as a defence and those where it is not (see further DPP v Majewski [1976 ] 2 All ER 142). Although there is an overlap between intention on the one hand and motive and foresight on the other, and these latter concepts assist the jury in their deliberations on intention, it is clear that the concepts are not synonymous.Motive is the reason why a person acts, while intention is his or her mental awareness at the time of the act. Foresight can be evidence of intention, but it is not conclusive proof of it. Section 8 of the Criminal Justice Act 1967 states that a court shall not be bound in law to infer that the accused intended or foresaw a result of his actions by reason only of its being a natural and probable consequence of those actions, but ‘shall decide whether he did intend or foresee that result by reference to all the evidence, drawing such inferences from the evidence as appear proper in the circumstances’.The issue of intention was debated by the House of Lords in R v Moloney [1985] 1 All ER 1025 and R v Hancock and Shankland [1986] 1 All ER 641. In the former case, Moloney shot his stepfather from point blank range and was convicted of murder after the trial judge (following Archbold Criminal Pleading Evidence and Practice, 40th edn, para. 17–13, p. 995) directed the jury that: In law a man intends the consequence of his voluntary act: (a) when he desires it to happen, whether or not he foresees that it probably will happen, or (b) when he foresees that it will probably happen, whether he desires it or not.The House of Lords quashed the conviction on the basis that this was a misdirection, Lord Bridge stating that: the golden rule should be that, when directing a jury on the mental element necessary in a crime of speci? c intent (i. e. , intention), the judge should avoid any elaboration or paraphrase of what is meant by intent, and leave it to the jury’s good sense to decide whether the accused acted with the necessary intent, unless the judge is convinced that, on the facts and having regard to the way the case has been presented to the jury in evidence and 2 The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea argument, some further explanation or elaboration is strictly necessary to avoid misunderstanding. Although the decision may be criticized on the ground that their Lordships missed a golden opportunity to de? ne intention, it is in keeping with the modern trend of leaving more and more issues to the jury, especially the meaning of words in common use. For example, Brutus v Cozens [1972] 2 All ER 1297 (insulting); R v Feely [1973] 1 All ER 341 (dishonestly).This decision was followed by the House of Lords’ ruling in R v Hancock and Shankland, where Lord Scarman also made the point that if intention required a detailed direction it was best to leave this to the discretion of the trial judge who would have had the bene? t of hearing all the witnesses and gauging the ability of the jury. He added that the trial judge could not do as Lord Bridge suggested and simply direct the jury to consider two questions: ? st, was death or really serious injury in a murder case a natural consequence of the defendant’s voluntary act? ; secondly, did the defendant foresee that consequence as being a natural consequence of his act? —further instructing them that if they answer ‘Yes’ to both questions it is a proper inference for them to draw that the accused intended that consequence. Lord Scarman stated that the trial judge must refer to the concept of probability—the more probable the consequence, the more likely the accused foresaw it and intended it.Despite clear House of Lords’ dicta to the contrary, the Court of Appeal in R v Nedrick [1986] 3 All ER 1 did lay down some guidelines to the effect that the jury should not infer intention unless they considered that the accused foresaw the consequence as a virtual certainty. However, this decision has attracted criticism, and the Court of Appeal in R v Walker and Hayle s [1989] 90 Cr App R 226 stated ‘we are not persuaded that it is only when death is a virtual certainty that the jury can infer intention to kill’. Nevertheless, the status of Nedrick was con? med by the House of Lords’ discussion in R v Woollin [1998] 4 All ER 103. The House, stating that where the simple direction was not enough, the jury should be further directed that they were not entitled to ? nd the necessary intention unless they felt sure that death or serious bodily harm was a virtually certain result of D’s action (barring some unforeseen intervention) and, that D had appreciated that fact. This decision also illustrates one of the dif? culties of the present approach, i. e. , when is the issue of intention so complicated as to warrant a detailed direction?In R v Walker and Hayles, the Court of Appeal decided that ‘the mere fact that a jury calls for a further direction on intention does not of itself make it a rare and exceptional case re quiring a foresight direction’. On the other hand, in R v Hancock and Shankland, the House of Lords con? rmed that the trial judge was right to give a detailed direction, even though the content of the direction was wrong. A further problem is that different juries may have different ideas as to what constitutes intention, some insisting on purpose being necessary, while others are prepared to accept that only foresight of a probable consequence is required.There is clearly the The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea 13 risk of inconsistent decisions and it is therefore not surprising that the Law Commission (Nos 122 and 218) have recommended that the following standard de? nition of intention be adopted: a person acts intentionally with respect to a result when (i) it is his purpose to cause it; or (ii) although it is not his purpose to cause that result, he knows that it would occur in the ordinary course of events if he were to succeed in his purpose of causing so me other result. Question 2 ‘Mens rea is, by de? nition, the defendant’s state of mind. Discuss the accuracy of this statement using case law to support your argument. Commentary This question requires examination of some of the assumptions made about mens rea and the current trends in judicial thinking. Candidates would be expected to consider the main forms of mens rea and the extent to which courts are required to take an objective or subjective view of fault. Although ‘Caldwell recklessness’ has now been effectively consigned to legal history (for the time being at least) a good answer will need to show an awareness of that decision and its impact on the mens rea debate.Consideration also needs to be given to the issue of mistake and its relationship with mens rea. Finally, the answer should encompass some consideration of negligence as a form of mens rea and the extent to which its use accords with notions of subjective fault. Answer plan †¢ The n ature of mens rea †¢ Intention—R v Woollin— House of Lords’ decision †¢ The recklessness debate R v G [2003]—abandoning Caldwell †¢ The treatment of mistake and its effect on mens rea—DPP v Morgan [1976] †¢ Killing by gross negligence—whether objective or subjective 4 The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea Suggested answer Although mens rea translates literally as ‘guilty mind’, relying on this as the meaning given to that term in modern criminal law is likely to lead to error. This is because a defendant may be found to have mens rea even though he himself has not acted with the intention of committing an offence, or even with the awareness that this might be the result. The better approach is to regard mens rea as denoting the fault element that the prosecution has to prove.In the majority of cases this will involve proof of some positive state of mind on the part of the accused, but in other case s it may be enough to show that the accused failed to advert to something that would have been obvious to the reasonable person. The two most important fault elements used in modern criminal law are intention and recklessness. It can now be said that, as far as these two forms of mens rea are concerned, liability cannot be established without evidence as to what the defendant foresaw when he committed the acts causing the prohibited results.Exactly what it is that the defendant has to have foreseen, and how much foresight he must be shown to have had, are questions that go to the core of the debate relating to where the dividing line between different types of subjective mens rea should be drawn. The modern de? nition of intention can be derived from a number of House of Lords’ decisions, notably R v Moloney [1985] 1 All ER 1025 and R v Woollin [1998] 4 All ER 103. A defendant cannot be guilty of murder unless he is proved to have acted with intent to kill or do grievous bodi ly harm.Where a direction on intent is deemed necessary, a jury should be instructed that they should consider the extent to which the defendant foresaw death or grievous bodily harm resulting from his actions. Only where there is evidence that he foresaw either consequence as virtually certain would it be safe for a jury to conclude that a defendant therefore intended either of those consequences. The key here is foresight. Section 8 of the Criminal Justice Act 1967 makes clear that foresight is a subjective concept—i. e. it is based on what the defendant actually foresaw— not on what he ought to have foreseen, or indeed what the reasonable person would have foreseen had he been in the defendant’s shoes. Taken together, the de? nition of foresight in the 1967 Act, and the House of Lords’ ruling in Woollin ensure that where intention is the required mens rea, there can be no doubt that it will be based on the defendant’s state of mind—i. e. , a subjective approach will be adopted. The rationale for this is fairly obvious—it is hard to describe a defendant as having intended a consequence if there is no evidence of it having occurred to him.Even where there is such evidence, if the possibility of the consequence occurring has only ? eetingly crossed his mind it would still be absurd to say he intended it. The law, therefore, requires a very high degree of foresight before a defendant’s state of mind is labelled as having been intentional. Recklessness, by contrast, implies risk taking, as opposed to the defendant foreseeing a consequence as a certainty. Here there has been great controversy over the past few The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea 15 decades as to the right approach to the determination of fault.The traditional approach to recklessness as a form of mens rea very much re? ected the view that mens rea had to be based on the defendant’s state of mind. In R v Cunningham [1957] 2 All ER 412, the Court of Appeal held that a defendant was reckless only if he took an unjusti? able risk and was at least aware of the risk materializing. The key point about this approach to recklessness was that there would be no liability if the risk never occurred to the defendant. Subsequently, during the 1980s a contrary view held sway, following the House of Lords’ decision in Metropolitan Police Commissioner v Caldwell [1981] 1 All ER 961.D’s conviction for criminal damage being reckless as to whether life would be endangered, contrary to s. 1(1) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971, was upheld on the basis that he had created an obvious risk that property would be destroyed or damaged; and had either given no thought to the possibility of there being any such risk, or had recognized that there was some risk involved and had nevertheless gone on to do it. The ‘not thinking’ formulation of recklessness here, clearly envisaged liability being imposed ev en though the risk in question had not occurred to the defendant.Whilst this might have been a desirable policy goal—it made it easier for the prosecution to secure convictions—it threw up many dif? cult issues. First, what of the defendant who did not think of the risk because it would not have occurred to him even if he had stopped to think? In Elliot v C (A Minor) [1983] 2 All ER 1005, a 14-year-old schoolgirl of low intelligence, who was tired and hungry, spilt some in? ammable spirit and then dropped a lighted match on the wooden ? oor of a garden shed. She was charged under s. 1(1) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971.It was argued that she did not foresee the risk of ? re, nor would she had she addressed her mind to the possible consequences of her action. Although Goff LJ stated that a test for recklessness which allowed the court to take into account the individual characteristics of the accused had much merit (a subjective approach), he felt bound by the doctrine of precedent (at that time) to follow Caldwell, and therefore concluded that the defendant should have convicted on the objective test basis, i. e. , whether the risk would have been obvious to a reasonable man.Secondly, there was the argument that ‘Caldwell recklessness’ was not acceptable as a form of mens rea because it was not based on the defendant’s state of mind. In R v Reid [1992] 3 All ER 673, Lord Keith observed by way of response that: ‘Absence of something from a person’s state of mind is as much part of his state of mind as is its presence. Inadvertence to risk is no less a subjective state of mind than is disregard of a recognised risk. ’ What he meant by this was that even with ‘Caldwell recklessness’, the court had to consider the defendant’s state of mind.But, it is submitted, this is a piece of judicial sophistry, as all that was required was for the court to examine the defendant’s state of mind an d, on ? nding ‘no thought’, conclude that he had been reckless provided the risk would have been obvious to the reasonable prudent bystander. Whilst many might have applauded Lord Diplock’s efforts to penalize thoughtlessness in terms of a social policy initiative, the real question was whether he was right to 16 The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea ursue this via a radical judicial reinterpretation of the term ‘recklessness’. It is signi? cant that Parliament intervened shortly after Caldwell to reform the offence of reckless driving (and therefore causing death by reckless driving) by replacing it with the offence of dangerous driving—see the Road Traf? c Act 1991. The effect of this was to make clear that the offence could now be committed without any form of mens rea that required reference to the defendant’s state of mind. Recklessness was replaced, as a fault element, by the term ‘dangerous’.Whilst it coul d and was argued that recklessness implied some conscious risk-taking by the accused, there was no doubt that ‘dangerousness’ as a fault element rested entirely upon an objective assessment of the defendant’s conduct. In other words a defendant could drive dangerously because he had a badly secured load on the back of his trailer—there was no need for him to be aware of this. In summary this suggests that Parliament liked the idea of criminal liability based on failure to think about risk, but was not comfortable with the idea that ‘traditional’ mens rea terms like ‘recklessness’ might be used to describe it.As far as recklessness is concerned the subjectivist argument has found favour again, as evidenced by the House of Lords’ decision in R v G [2003] 4 All ER 765, where it was held that a defendant could not be properly convicted under s. 1 of the Criminal Damage Act 1971 on the basis that he was reckless as to whether pr operty was destroyed or damaged when he gave no thought to the risk and, by reason of his age and/or personal characteristics, the risk would not have been obvious to him, even if he had thought about it.Lord Bingham observed that recklessness should at least require a knowing disregard of an appreciated and unacceptable risk of, or a deliberate closing of the mind to, such risk. In his view it was not clearly blameworthy to do something involving a risk of injury to another if one genuinely did not perceive the risk. R v G re? ects a general judicial trend in favour of subjectivity, as evidenced in decisions such as B v DPP [2000] 1 All ER 833.Indeed, the high watermark of this approach to fault was the House of Lords’ decision in DPP v Morgan [1976] AC 182, where it was held that if a defendant made a genuine mistake of fact—such as wrongly believing that a woman was consenting to sexual intercourse, he had to be judged on the facts as he believed them to be, not as the reasonable person would have believed them to be. Lord Hailsham made it clear that there was no room either for a ‘defence’ of honest belief or mistake, or of a defence of honest and reasonable belief or mistake.The reasonableness of the defendant’s honest belief was simply a factor relating to its credibility. The mental element in the offence of rape has now been modi? ed by the Sexual Offences Act 2003, so that rape is effectively now an offence with a fault element based on negligence. The rationale of DPP v Morgan survives, however, at common law to the extent that a defendant should normally be judged on the facts as he honestly believes them to be. As has been noted above in the case of dangerous driving, fault elements that do not require reference to the defendant’s state of mind are used.At common law this can be seen in the offence of killing by gross negligence. In R v Adomako [1994] 3 WLR 288, Lord Mackay LC explained that liability would be established if the prosecution could prove that the defendant’s conduct departed from the proper standard of care incumbent The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea 17 upon him, thereby creating a risk of death, and involved such a departure from acceptable standards of care as to deserve the stigma of criminalization.As was made clear in Attorney-General’s Reference (No. 2 of 1999) [2000] 3 All ER 182, evidence of the defendant’s state of mind might be useful in guiding a jury as to whether or not the negligence was gross, but this fault element can be made out without any direct evidence as to the defendant’s state of mind. Whilst this may seem to run counter to the trend in favour of subjectivity it should be remembered that it serves a useful social purpose in making it easier to impose criminal liability on companies that kill.In summary, therefore, it is undoubtedly true to say that mens rea normally does involve an examination of the def endant’s state of mind to ascertain a degree of awareness of the consequences of his actions. The law will, however, allow departures from this where the social utility of doing so outweighs the need to ensure the fairness to the defendant that ensues from adopting a subjective approach to fault. Question 3 You are told that the (? titious) Ancient Book Act 2009 has just received the Royal Assent and that s. 1 provides, ‘It shall be an offence to destroy any book printed before 1800’. Discuss the criminal liability of each party (in relation to the 2009 Act) in the following situation. Arthur owns 200 books, which he thinks are worthless. He is concerned in case any of the books were printed before 1800 and consults Ben, an expert on old books, who assures him that all the books were printed long after 1800.Arthur destroys the books and is now horri? ed to discover that three of them were printed in 1750. Commentary This is an unusual question which has caused st udents dif? culties, with many writing about the offence of criminal damage. This is a mistake as the question requires a detailed analysis of the mens rea requirement of the Ancient Book Act 2009, and in particular analysis of the concept of strict liability. In a survey by Justice referred to in an article by A. Ashworth and M.Blake, ‘The Presumption of Innocence in English Criminal Law’ [1996] Crim LR 306, it is estimated that in over one half of criminal offences either strict liability is imposed, or the prosecution have the bene? t of a presumption. It is obviously an important topic, and popular with examiners! A good answer will require a detailed consideration of the possibility of this offence being one of strict liability and the effect of this. Candidates should also consider the position if the courts decide that intention or recklessness is the appropriate mental state. 8 The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea Answer plan †¢ Strict liability —Sweet v Parsley [1969] †¢ Presumption of mens rea—B v DPP [2000] †¢ The exceptions †¢ Recklessness †¢ Mistake—Morgan [1976] †¢ Ben’s liability under the Serious Crime Act 2007 Suggested answer The ? rst point to note is that s. 1 of the Ancient Book Act 2009 is silent as to the mens rea requirement of the offence. This could mean that the offence is one of absolute liability (i. e. , strict liability in the sense that no mens rea whatsoever is required).Alternatively it could be a strict liability offence in the sense that intention, recklessness or negligence is only required as regards one or more elements of the actus reus. The imposition of absolute liability may be very harsh on the defendant. For example, in Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v Storkwain [1986] 2 All ER 635, the House of Lords upheld the conviction of a pharmacist who had given drugs to a patient with a forged doctor’s prescription, although the court found the pharmacist blameless.Whilst the decision demonstrates the inherent unfairness of strict liability, it can be justi? ed on the basis that the misuse of drugs is a grave social evil and therefore should be prevented at all costs. The ? rst case of statutory strict liability was R v Woodrow (1846) 15 M & W 404, where the accused was found guilty of being in possession of adulterated tobacco, even though he did not know that it was adulterated. Many early decisions revealed an inconsistent approach as the courts were trying to interpret old statutes in ascertaining the will of Parliament.However, Lord Reid in the House of Lords’ decision in Sweet v Parsley [1969] 1 All ER 347 laid down the following guidelines: (a) Wherever a section is silent as to mens rea there is a presumption that, in order to give effect to the will of Parliament, words importing mens rea must be read into the provision. (b) It is a universal principle that if a penal provision is reasonabl y capable of two interpretations, that interpretation which is most favourable to the accused must be adopted. (c) The fact that other sections of the Act expressly require mens rea is not in itself suf? ient to justify a decision that a section which is silent as to mens rea creates an absolute offence. It is necessary to go outside the Act and examine all relevant circumstances in order to establish that this must have been the intention of Parliament. The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea 19 So in Cundy v Le Coq (1884) 13 QB 207, a publican was found guilty of selling intoxicating liquor to a drunken person under s. 13 of the Licensing Act 1872, even though the publican did not know and had no reason to know that the customer was drunk; whereas in Sherras v De Rutzen [1895] 1 QB 918, a publican was not guilty under s. 6(2) of the Licensing Act 1872 of serving alcohol to a police constable while on duty when the accused did not know or have reason to know that the polic e constable was on duty. The former case was held to be an offence of strict liability, whereas in the latter, in order to obtain a conviction, the prosecution had to prove mens rea on behalf of the publican, which they were unable to do. Despite the fact that there is a presumption in favour of mens rea when a statute is silent, the courts have been prepared to rebut this presumption on many occasions.The leading case on this point is Gammon v Attorney-General for Hong Kong [1985] AC 1, where Lord Scarman set out the applicable principles. If the offence is truly criminal in character the presumption is particularly strong, but it can be displaced where the statute is concerned with an issue of social concern. Thus, in Gammon, as the accused’s activities involved public safety, the Privy Council were prepared to hold that the legislature intended the offence to be one of strict liability. On analysis these principles appear inconsistent. It could be argued that all crimes by de? ition are grave social evils, yet if the offence is truly criminal in character, strict liability does not apply. In practice, the courts have adopted a ? exible approach, but it is recognized that certain spheres of activity are always likely to attract the conclusion that this is an offence of strict liability. Thus in? ation (R v St Margaret’s Trust Ltd [1958] 2 All ER 289), pollution (Alphacell Ltd v Woodward [1972] 2 All ER 475), and dangerous drugs (Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v Storkwain, above) are traditional areas where strict liability has been imposed.However, it does seem in recent years that the category of grave social concern is expanding to encompass new social activity to include acting as a director whilst disquali? ed (R v Brockley [1994] Crim LR 671) and unauthorized possession of a dangerous dog (R v Bezzina [1994] 1 WLR 1057). However, the House of Lords have again emphasized the need for the prosecution to prove mens rea in B (A minor) v DPP [2000] 1 All ER 833, where Lord Hutton stated (at p. 855), ‘the test is not whether it is a reasonable implication that the statute rules outmens rea as a constituent part of the crime—the test is whether it is a necessary implication’.Further in R v Lambert [2001] 3 All ER 577, the House held that although s. 28 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 required the defence to prove a defence, this only meant introduce evidence of, rather than establish a defence on the balance of probabilities. In view of these developments, it is submitted that it would be most unlikely for s. 1 of the Ancient Book Act 2009 to be an offence of strict liability, and therefore Arthur will only be guilty if the prosecution can establish that he had the necessary mens rea.As Rix LJ observed in R v M [2009] EWCA 2615, even if the provision in question is silent as to mens rea and other provisions in the statute expressly require it, the presumption in 20 The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea favour of mens rea will not be rebutted unless the circumstances are such as to compel such a conclusion. If the court were to decide that the offence required the prosecution to prove intention, it is submitted that Arthur would not be convicted.He obtained the opinion of Ben, an expert and clearly did not desire or even foresee the consequence that protected books would be destroyed. Arthur has made a mistake, and even if an accused makes an unreasonable mistake, in accordance with the House of Lords’ decision in DPP v Morgan [1976] AC 182, he is, in the absence of any clear statutory intent to the contrary, entitled to be judged on the facts as he believed them to be. If the court decides that the offence could be committed recklessly, it would still be very dif? ult for the prosecution to establish the appropriate mens rea. It is almost certainly the case that subjective recklessness would have to be proved—i. e. , the prosecution must show that the accused foresaw the consequence and took an unjusti? ed risk (R v Cunningham [1957] 2 All ER 412 and R v G [2003] 4 All ER 765) (although technically the latter only deals with the issue of recklessness in relation to criminal damage). As Arthur sought the opinion of an expert it is dif? cult to see how it could be argued that he was consciously taking an unjusti? ed risk.It is therefore submitted that Arthur could be guilty of the offence only if the court decides that s. 1 of the Ancient Book Act 2009 creates an offence of strict liability. Turning to Ben’s liability, if he genuinely believed the books to be of post-1800 vintage and the courts interpret the offence as requiring at least recklessness on this issue, he could not be convicted as an accomplice as he would lack the necessary mens rea. If the offence were held to be one of strict or absolute liability Ben could only be convicted as an accomplice if he knew of the facts that constituted the offence—i. . he knew the books dated from before 1800—see Johnson v Youden [1950] 1 KB 544. Alternatively, if Ben knew or believed the books to date from before 1800 he could be charged with either: (i) doing an act capable of encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence intending to encourage or assist its commission contrary to s. 44 of the Serious Crime Act 2007; or (ii) doing an act capable of encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence believing that the offence will be committed and that his act will encourage or assist its commission contrary to s. 5 of the Serious Crime Act 2007. The act in question would be giving advice to Arthur he knew to be wrong. The fact that Arthur, in destroying the books, might have acted without mens rea will not absolve Ben. If the offence under the Ancient Book Act 2009 is construed as requiring fault it will be suf? cient for the prosecution to prove that Ben’s state of mind was such that, had he destroyed the books, he wou ld have acted with the degree of fault required for the full offence; see s. 47(5)(a)(iii) of the 2007 Act.If the 2009 Act is a strict liability offence, Ben can be convicted under the Serious Crime Act 2007, provided he believed that the books dated from before 1800 or was reckless as to whether or not they did. The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea 21 Question 4 Gloria, Wood’s eccentric aunt, aged 57, was invited to stay with Wood and his girlfriend Mary at their property on the coast. It was agreed that Gloria would stay for three weeks and would occupy ‘the lodge’ in the garden of the Wood’s house some 30 yards away. Gloria also agreed to pay ? 0 to cover the electricity she would use in the lodge. Everything went well for two weeks, with all three sharing meals at the house. However, a change of mood then came over Gloria who decided that she no longer wanted to have meals with Wood and Mary. Gloria spent more and more time by herself at th e lodge. After 20 days of the holiday Gloria, whose physical condition had visibly deteriorated, announced that she refused to leave the lodge and was going to stay there the rest of the winter. This so enraged Wood and Mary that the next day they told her to leave immediately, which she did.Six hours later, at 11 pm, Gloria rang their bell pleading to be let in as she was cold and hungry and had nowhere else to go. Wood and Mary refused, and during that night Gloria was taken to hospital suffering from hypothermia. While in hospital, Gloria fell unconscious and was placed on a life support machine. After ? ve days she was correctly diagnosed by Dr Spock as being in a persistent vegetative state with no hope of recovery. He accordingly disconnected the machine. Discuss the criminal responsibility (if any) of Wood and Mary. CommentaryThe sensible way to tackle this question is to start with an examination of failure to act as a basis for liability. The key aspect of this will be the comparison of the given cases with earlier decisions such as R v Instan and R v Stone and Dobinson. Care must be taken to distinguish between the facts of those cases and the current problem. The facts of the question require an examination of at least three bases for liability: blood relationship, reliance, and creating a dangerous situation. Do not fall into the trap of thinking that the discussion of omission is all that is required.Candidates must establish a causal link between the omission and the death—in fact and in law. Finally, candidates will need to consider the most appropriate form of homicide. Candidates are advised not to waste valuable time considering murder or unlawful act manslaughter—they are clearly not relevant on the facts. In relation to killing by gross negligence, candidates need to devote some time to the issue of duty of care—note that this covers very similar ground to the discussion relating to liability for omission—but the decision in R v Evans is particularly helpful and relevant here.Note: Candidates are not required to consider the responsibility of Dr Spock. 22 The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea Answer plan †¢ Is there a causative omission? †¢ Examine the bases for liability for failing to act—statutory, contractual, and common law †¢ Distinguish R v Instan and R v Stone & Dobinson †¢ Consider R v Miller and R v Evans †¢ Consider killing by gross negligence †¢ Can a duty of care be established? †¢ Is the degree of fault required made out on the facts? Suggested answer The ? st issue to be resolved is whether or not Wood and Mary can be said to have caused the death of Gloria. As there is no positive act by either of them that causes death, the court would need to investigate whether or not liability can be based on the failure of either or both of them to prevent Gloria’s death. The question as to whether an omission, as opposed to an act, can actually cause a consequence is a moot point. Traditionally, the criminal law has always drawn a clear distinction between acts and omissions, being loath to punish the latter.Other European countries—e. g. , Greece, France and Germany—do not exhibit the same reluctance, and there is dispute as to whether the English approach is correct. See in particular the different views of Professors A. Ashworth (1989) 105 LQR 424 and G. Williams (1991) 107 LQR 109. However, apart from the numerous statutes that impose a duty to act, e. g. , s. 170 of the Road Traf? c Act 1988, it appears that the common law will impose a duty to act only in very limited circumstances.There can be no criminal liability imposed on Wood and Mary in respect of their failing to care for Gloria unless the prosecution can establish that they were under a positive legal duty to care for her. Such a duty can be imposed by statute, but that is clearly not the case here. Similarly a legal duty to act can arise from a contract between the parties. For example in R v Pittwood (1902) 19 TLR 37, where the defendant, a railway gate operator, was found guilty of manslaughter when a person was killed crossing a railway line as a result of the defendant leaving the gate open when a train was coming.In the present case it could be argued that there was a contractual relationship, in that Gloria agreed to pay for her electricity and was in occupation of the lodge, but it is hard to see how any positive duty to care for Gloria can be implied—and in any event it would be argued that the contract was only for the initial three-week period, and that it was a purely domestic arrangement not intended to give rise to legally enforceable obligations. In respect of Wood it could be argued that he was under a common law duty to care for Gloria because she was a relative.Where the relationship is that of parent and child the common law has had little dif? culty in identifying a positive l egal duty of care so The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea 23 that failing to act can result in liability where it causes harm; see R v Gibbins and Proctor (1918) 13 Cr App R 134. In R v Instan [1893] 1 QB 450, liability for manslaughter was imposed upon a niece who failed to care for her aunt with whom she was living, having been given money by the aunt to supply groceries. Liability in Instan was largely based on the existence of a blood relationship between the parties.This would seem to suggest that, at least in the case of Wood, there might be a common law duty to act. It is submitted that the present case can be distinguished from Instan. In Instan the defendant actually occupied the same house as the deceased, and had expressly undertaken the task of purchasing food for her, which she subsequently failed to do, knowing well that her aunt could not fend for herself. In the present case Gloria decided for herself that she wanted to stay in the lodge alone, thus raisi ng the question of whether Wood was obliged to do anything more for her than he had been doing during the ? st two weeks of her stay. Furthermore the evidence suggests that it was refusing to readmit Gloria after she had been told to leave that led to her death—raising the question of whether Wood was under any obligation to readmit Gloria. The much more promising argument for the prosecution is that a positive legal duty to act at common law arose in respect of both Wood and Mary because they had allowed a relationship of reliance to develop between themselves and Gloria. The key authority here is R v Stone and Dobinson [1977] QB 354.In that case the Court of Appeal upheld convictions for killing by gross negligence on the basis that the defendants had admitted the deceased to their house and had attempted to care for her. They then failed to discharge their duty adequately and failed to summon any assistance in discharging that duty. The court stressed that the duty to act arose not simply because of a blood relationship between one of the defendants and the deceased, but because of the reliance relationship.It could be argued that in allowing Gloria to stay Wood and Mary allowed a relationship of reliance to develop—but the present case can be distinguished from Stone and Dobinson on the grounds that Wood and Mary placed a time limit on Gloria’s stay, and Gloria left of her own volition. Thus the argument as to whether or not there is any liability for failing to act is ? nely balanced. The prosecution could run an alternative argument on the basis that when Gloria begs to be readmitted to the house Wood and Mary are aware that their expulsion of Gloria has created a dangerous situation.There is evidence that Gloria’s physical condition had visibly deteriorated. Gloria was cold, hungry, and had nowhere to go. There was evidence that Gloria was eccentric. Applying R v Miller [1983] 1 All ER 978, where the House of Lords upheld the accused’s conviction for criminal damage where he had inadvertently started a ? re and then, when he realized what he had done, simply left the building without making any attempt to prevent the ? re spreading or to call the ? re brigade, it could be argued that by failing to offer Gloria shelter, Wood and Mary committed culpable omission that caused Gloria’s death.For the Miller principle to apply, the prosecution would have to show that the defendants were both aware that their expulsion of Gloria had created a dangerous situation. On the facts this should not be too dif? cult. 24 The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea Assuming that the failure to care for Gloria, or the refusal to readmit her to the house, can form the basis of liability, the prosecution will have to show that this omission caused Gloria’s death. It is not necessary for the prosecution to prove that the omission was the sole or main cause, merely that it contributed signi? antly to the victim’s death (R v Cheshire [1991] 3 All ER 670). The accused could argue that the doctor’s turning off the life support system constituted a novus actus interveniens, breaking the chain of causation; but this argument was rejected by the House of Lords in R v Malcherek; R v Steel [1981] 2 All ER 422, where Lord Lane CJ stated that ‘the fact that the victim has died, despite or because of medical treatment for the initial injury given by careful and skilled medical practitioners, will not exonerate the original assailant from responsibility for the death’.It is therefore clear that the medical treatment, of itself, will not be held to have broken the chain of causation in law. Wood and Mary could be charged with manslaughter on the basis of killing by gross negligence, which, unlike unlawful act manslaughter, can be based on an omission; see R v Lowe [1973] 1 All ER 805. The key authority regarding killing by gross negligence is the House of Lordsâ⠂¬â„¢ ruling in R v Adomako [1994] 3 All ER 79, where their Lordships held that an accused would be guilty of manslaughter if the following four conditions were satis? d: (i) the accused owed a duty of care to the victim; (ii) that duty was broken; (iii) the conduct of the accused was grossly negligent; (iv) that conduct caused the victim’s death. In some cases the existence of a duty of care will be self-evident, for example doctor and patient, parent and child etc. Notwithstanding the decision in R v Instan, it should not be assumed that all familial relationships will give rise to a legal duty of care, and in any event this would not assist as regards Mary. Signi? antly, the Court of Appeal decision in R v Evans [2009] EWCA Crim 650, indicates that a duty of care will be recognized by the courts in what might be referred to as ‘R v Miller’ situations— i. e. , where the defendant has created a dangerous situation and is aware, or ought reasonably to be a ware, that this is the case. Allowing Gloria’s physical condition to deteriorate and then not allowing her back into the house might provide the evidential basis for this. The trial judge in the present case should direct that they can conclude that a duty of care existed provided they ? d certain facts established—and the trial judge should make clear to the jury what those key facts are. It is submitted that there is suf? cient evidence for the jury to conclude that a duty of care existed. The breach of the duty of care is evident in their not helping Gloria and not attempting to obtain any alternative assistance for her—they did not even call the police to The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea 25 advise them of the problem. The issue of whether this breach of the duty of care can be said to have caused the death of Gloria has already been considered above.The remaining live issue, therefore, is that of gross negligence. Following the House of Lords ’ decision in R v Adomako the jury will have to determine whether or not the accused’s conduct: (a) departed from the proper standard of care incumbent upon them; (b) involved a risk of death to the victim; (c) was so grossly negligent that it ought to be regarded as criminal. As later cases such as R v Mark and another [2004] All ER (D) 35 (Oct) indicate, actual foresight of risk of death by the accused is not required.The test for mens rea is objective—does the jury regard the act or omission leading to the breach of duty as being so culpable that it should be labelled as ‘criminal’? Evidence that the defendants knew they would cause harm by not acting is admissible to establish the required fault, but is not essential. Similarly, evidence that Mary and Wood had never thought about what might happen to Gloria could be admissible to show that they should not be labelled as criminals, but such evidence would not preclude a ? nding by the jury that t hey had acted, or failed to act, in a manner that was grossly negligent. Question 5Critically analyse with reference to decided cases, the reasons why the development and application of the criminal law is often unpredictable and inconsistent. Commentary Occasionally an exam will contain a question that requires candidates to take a wider view of the criminal law. This is such a question. Candidates cannot simply home in on a speci? c area and cover it in detail. Candidates must try to think of instances throughout the syllabus that can be used in your arguments to answer the question. Avoid the common mistake of interpreting the question to read ‘Choose one area of the criminal law where there are dif? ulties and write all about them’! This question has been included as it enables candidates to think more widely about the role of the criminal law within the legal system and society as a whole. Providing a good answer requires the ability to take a broad view of the syl labus—something candidates who revise topics in isolation are not always able to do. 26 The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea Answer plan †¢ Constant change—R v R [1991] †¢ Lack of code—Caldwell [1981], Morgan [1975] †¢ Logic v policy †¢ Role of House of Lords—Clegg [1995] Suggested answer The development of many areas of law follows a consistent and logical course.The basic foundations, their concepts and application are accepted by the vast majority, and only ? ne tuning or adjustments of these principles are required to meet new situations. Unfortunately this cannot be said about criminal law, where the debate about fundamental concepts—such as whether recklessness should be interpreted subjectively or objectively; whether a mistake of fact relied upon by a defendant should have to be one that a reasonable person would have made; whether duress should be a defence to a charge of murder—is still ongoing. One of the problems is that the criminal law is subject to constant change.It has to adapt to cover new phenomena, such as stalking, drug abuse, and internet fraud and to re? ect society’s changing social and moral standards. As the House of Lords stated in R v R [1991] 4 All ER 481, abolishing the husband’s marital rape exemption, the common law is capable of evolving in the light of social, economic and cultural developments. In that case the recognition that the status of women had changed out of all recognition from the time (Hale’s Pleas of the Crown 1736) when the husband’s marital rape exemption was initially recognized was long overdue. Similarly, the criminal law once re? cted the moral position that it was a crime to take one’s own life. Failure in such an enterprise was prosecuted as attempted suicide and could be punished. However, attitudes softened and it was recognized that such a person needed help, not a criminal trial; the law was con sequently amended by the Suicide Act 1961. The 1960s saw similar changes in respect of the law relating to homosexuality and abortion. Changes in the law can also result from a shift in ideology on the part of an elected government, or as a response to new threats to the safety and stability of society—for example legislation to combat terrorism.There is no doubt that the development and application of the criminal law would be more consistent and predictable if the courts exhibited a more uniform approach to its development. The problem is illustrated by two House of Lords’ decisions: Metropolitan Police Commissioner v Caldwell [1981] 1 All ER 961, where an objective approach to recklessness was used, and DPP v Morgan [1975] 2 All ER 347, where a subjective approach to mistake was applied. Why was it that liability for recklessness was imposed on an objective basis, but where a defendant made a mistake of fact heThe elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea 27 was entitled (subject to any statutory provision to the contrary) to be judged on the facts as he honestly believed them to be? Commentators may argue that two different areas of the criminal law were being considered, criminal damage and rape (note that the law has since been changed as regards rape by the Sexual Offences Act 2003), but the inconsistency is still stark. At least in so far as recklessness is concerned, the House of Lords has now embraced the notion of subjectivity again in R v G [2003] 4 All ER 765, but the very fact that the legal de? ition of such a basic concept can change so much in the space of 20 years is itself startling. The Law Commission has long argued that the solution lies in codifying the law (see Law Com. No. 143) on the basis that: ‘the criminal law could then exhibit a uniform approach to all crimes and defences’. All other major European countries (France, Germany, and Spain) have a detailed criminal code, with a uniform approach providing a starting point for interpreting the law. The criminal law in England and Wales has developed in a piecemeal fashion, with one offence’s development showing little consistency with another’s.So often it is dif? cult to say what our law actually is, even before lawyers start to debate how it should be applied, e. g. , R v Savage; R v Parmenter [1992] 1 AC 699, interpreting (after over 130 years of use) the provisions of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. A code could be expressed in clear language with de? nitions of fundamental concepts such as intention and recklessness, as suggested by the Law Commission’s Draft Criminal Code; although, as the former chairman of the Law Commission Justice Henry Brooke stated ([1995] Crim LR 911): ‘Nobody in their right mind would want to put the existing criminal law into a codi? d form’. Often the criminal law follows a logical approach in its application; but as it does not exist in a vacuum and is not simply the application of academic principles, policy considerations sometimes have to prevail. As Lord Salmon stated in DPP v Majewski [1976] 2 All ER 142, regarding the defence of intoxication, ‘the answer is that in strict logic the view [intoxication is no defence to crimes of basic intent] cannot be justi? ed. But this is the view that has been adopted by the common law which is founded on common sense and experience rather than strict logic’. Policy considerations are also behind s. (3) of the Criminal Attempts Act 1981, whereby in the offence of attempt, the facts are to be as the accused believes them to be. Thus an accused, objectively viewed, may appear not to be committing a criminal act but because they believe they are, they can be guilty of attempting to commit that criminal act, as in R v Shivpuri [1986] 2 All ER 334. There is often no means of predicting which approach will prevail. In Jaggard v Dickinson [1980] 3 All ER 716, the accused, who had been in formed by her friend X that she could break into X’s house to shelter, while drunk mistakenly broke into V’s house.She was charged with criminal damage under s. 1(1) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971, but argued that she had a lawful excuse under s. 5(2) of the Act as she honestly believed that she had the owner’s consent. Although the prosecution contended that this was a crime of basic intent and therefore drunkenness was no defence (citing the 28 The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea House of Lords’ decisions of Metropolitan Police Commissioner v Caldwell and DPP v Majewski in support), the Court of Appeal quashed her conviction, giving priority to the statutory provision of s. (2) of the 1971 Act. One important aspect of the criminal law process in recent years, which has caused uncertainty, is the role of the House of Lords in changing the criminal law. Clearly judges are there to say what the law is, not what it should be; but Lord Simon in DPP for Northern Ireland v Lynch [1975] 1 All ER 913 said: ‘I am all for recognising that judges do make law. And I am all for judges exercising their responsibilities boldly at the proper time and place†¦where matters of social policy are not involved which the collective wisdom of Parliament is better suited to resolve’.Thus in R v R, the House of Lords changed the law of rape, by abolishing the husband’s defence of marital rape immunity without waiting for Parliament to implement the Law Commission’s recommendations. However, their Lordships took the opposite view in R v Clegg [1995] 1 All ER 334, where they refused to follow the Law Commission’s suggestion that a person who was entitled to use force in self-defence but who used unreasonable force, thereby killing the victim, would be guilty of manslaughter, not murder.Lord Lloyd stated: I am not adverse to judges developing law, or indeed making new law, when they can see their way clearly , even where questions of social policy are involved. [A good example is R v R. ] But in the present case I am in no doubt that your Lordships should abstain from law making. The reduction of what would otherwise be murder to manslaughter in a particular class of case seems to me essentially a matter for decision by the legislature. It is dif? cult to appreciate the essential difference in issues in these two cases, despite Lord Lowry’s justi? cations in R v Clegg that ‘R v R dealt with a speci? act and not with a general principle governing criminal liability’. Clearly there is a difference in opinion amongst the Law Lords as to the correct application of these principles. This is well illustrated by the House of Lords’ decision in R v Gotts [1992] 1 All ER 832. The majority decision not to allow duress as a defence to attempted murder was on the basis that duress was no defence to murder. The minority view to the contrary revealed a different analysis. T hey argued that duress is a general defence throughout the criminal law with the exceptions of the offences of murder and treason.It is for Parliament, and not the courts, to limit the ambit of a defence; and as attempted murder is a different offence to murder, duress must therefore be available. It is submitted that these are the main reasons why the development and application of the criminal law is often uncertain and unpredictable. There are other factors, such as whether an issue is a question of law for the judge or fact for the jury, e. g. , the meaning of ‘administer’ (R v Gillard (1988) 87 Cr App R 189); the dif? culty in ascertaining the ratio decidendi of many cases, e. g. R v Brown [1993] 2 All ER 75 (consent); and the possible effect of the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights. But it is the lack of a code and uniform principles which are the main factors causing the inherent uncertainty. The elements of a crime: actus reus and me