Criminal Law - Category of Wrongful Death - Coursework Example

? Criminal Law No: Roll No: Criminal Law Marlene and Paul live in a squat, ly an empty house which has been occupied by trespassers. They share a room, although their relationship is only as good friends.  Marlene has recently given birth to a baby by her estranged husband who does not live with her. They have moved from the north, and neither is registered with a doctor because Marlene is afraid that the baby will be taken into care. They have no income except what Paul can steal or earn playing his guitar outside the railway station.  During the hard winter, Marlene becomes quite ill as a result of being weak after giving birth. She also suffers from post-natal depression, as a result of which she has no interest in looking after herself or the baby. Paul does his best to look after both of them, feeding the baby milk formula and warming up soup for Marlene. But she becomes too depressed to eat sufficiently, and after two months she becomes very ill and catches pneumonia in the damp and cold conditions in the house. She begs Paul not to call a doctor. The baby is well since Paul has looked after him to the best of his ability.  Marlene dies of the pneumonia one night, and when Paul reports her death, the police doctor says that Marlene could have been saved if medical help had been called in time.  DISCUSS THE CRIMINAL LIABILITY, IF ANY, OF PAUL FOR THE DEATH OF MARLENE. CITE APPROPRIATE CASES, AUTHORITIES OR EXAMPLES AS NECESSARY.  Marlene and Paul In accordance with English law, murder is an offence. This act of human being always considered a heinous and serious offence to take life of another human being. The murder may be intentionally or unintentionally. It may have lawful cause or unlawful cause of action. The murder can be in self-defence wherein no motive of murder or intention of murder can be seen. There are instances where harm was intended to a targeted person but erroneously the weapon killed another person1. Under the mentioned scenario, it is the duty of law enforcing agencies to investigate and determine the motives behind the murder and to submit investigative report along with the statements of independent eye witnesses in the competent court of law to proceed further against the culprit and to seek a fair and transparent judgment to satisfy the heirs of the victim2. Contrary to the above, in England and Wales, the law of homicide or manslaughter is treated a less serious crime or offense than that of intentional murder. The difference between the murder and the homicide is that the murder is done with guilt of mind whereas in the homicide. On proving guilty of manslaughter, the jury has the discretion to award life sentence to the murderer. However, before passing on the punishment of life imprisonment, the court shall examine the circumstances which compelled the murder for homicide3. According to English law, carelessness or failure of a person to protect another person from any harm that claims life may be liable for criminal prosecution. It may invoke civil or criminal jurisdiction against a person who miserably failed to protect precious life of another person due to carelessness. The law of the land applies in terms of harm may differ from manufacturer of kitchen items and the manufacturer of highly explosive items. In both the cases the burden of proof of innocence lies on the shoulders of defendants4. As per English law, wrong death of a person due to negligence of another person, manufacturing unit, business entity and the firm are liable for criminal prosecution. That sort of death can be challenged in a competent court of law by heir or heirs of the deceased aims at to book responsible negligent party who is or are responsible for the alleged death. What we have witnessed in such cases is that the suit filed against the defendants by the petitioners are the nearest and close family members comprised of parents, life partner, kids or in few cases another family directly hit with the murder of the deceased5. Category of Wrongful Death Mentioned are the circumstances that attributable to wrongful death of a man, woman or a kid6: Road accident that claims life of person due to reckless driving Claim of a Pedestrian life may be reason of senseless car driving. Manufacturing defects of motor cycle, car, truck or trawler may claim life of pedestrians and other pedestrians. Defective electronic gadgets may take life of the user. Hence in this case manufacturer is responsible for wrongful death and liable for criminal prosecution. Carelessness in providing medical assistance for those who is badly needed for it to save the life of a person. This amounts to criminal negligence. Death at work place due to in appropriate or ill equipped installations. Death of passenger in the air space or at the ground may be due to technical fault or operational errors. Death due to dog bite may attract criminal prosecution against the owner. Last but not least the criminal attitude or action of a person towards another person that led to a wrongful death. It is a legal requirement that mentioned cases should file well in time in the competent court of law in order to avoid time barred restrictions. Pecuniary Damages Compensation against wrongful death of a person by the lawful heirs of the deceased from a person who is responsible for it is legally valid. However, it is the discretion of the heirs to accept compensation or to refuse it7. The court while deciding the case in favour of victim shall consider the following ingredients of the compensation a) age of victim b) earning capacity, cost of medical treatment, funeral costs, and other associated expenses incurred. The action of the court may deter others to refrain from doing heinous crime. However, it is the discretion of the court to enhance or to reduce the compensation amount keeping in mind the wallet size of the defendant8. Compensatory Damages While awarding capital punishment to the murderer the court also takes into account the compensation associated with the damages. Apart from other things, the court also takes into account the loss of income to the victim’s family which would be available if he or she was alive9. The damages if calculated from the age of victim up to the growth of survivors if granted will be sufficient for a graceful life. There will be justified reasons if court may extend compensation to the level of maintenance of household affairs, kids care and loss of company of spouse. Mentioned exemplary mentioned will surely deter other criminal minded breeds not to indulge in activities which may not only claim their life but to pass on the handsome compensation to the bereaved family in shape of court orders10. Expertise We cannot deny the role of experts in detecting and determining the in depth loss of wrongful death. Their expertise is used in framing the effective law suits against the outlaws11. The cited experts are also helpful for the court to arrive at a just decision. It is true that all jurors may or may not have the expertise in all matters. Hence, they have to rely on the expert opinion of the expert to understand the matter clearly. Reliable concrete evidence may be of great help in awarding the real compensation against the damages by the competent court of law12. The investigator should have firsthand knowledge about the category of wrongful death so as to sort out the complexity of a death. In order to have a true picture of the circumstances that led to a murder, the investigator should have road map to know the real cause of death and to get the culprit. It is necessary to provide and justice and relief to the victim of tort13. The key role of lawyer in claiming the compensation on behalf of victim’s heir cannot be ignored. It is the responsibility of the victim’s survivors to engage proficient counsel who have in depth knowledge and have a successful back ground of civil or criminal cases to successfully claim compensation against the damages inflicted upon the victim’s family. Otherwise the victim’s family might lose the opportunity of claiming compensation from the court provided the defendant lawyer convince the court that the death is not due to the action of his or her client14. As per English law, negligence is a kind of tort which indicates slackness of a person in discharging duties towards another person15. Take the example of a land mark decision in the case of Donoghue v Stevenson wherein the petitioner used a drink that comprised of invisible mutilated snail. The drink provided by the close friend was not aware of it. Further, nor the seller of the drink was unaware about it. The petitioner sued the manufacturer under the available remedy. At last the House of Lords realized the valid claim of the petitioner. In view of the Lord MacMillan that sort of case falls within the ambit of product liability. As per the considered opinion of Lord Atkin, one should be mindful of his or her duty towards his or her neighbour. In support of his opinion Lord Atkin quoted here the biblical version "love thy neighbour."16 The carelessness or slackness in discharging moral duties by a man or a woman can be categorized as wrong doing towards a human being who is deprived of help in need to soften the harm that inflicted upon him by another person. The biblical message “love your neighbour” now becomes law. Hence, the message requires that one should not harm his or her neighbour. Further one should take reasonable care and refrain from doing wrong thing which may injure the neighbour17. As per the definition of law, the doctrine of negligence is that one should be careful about his or her responsibility towards caring of another person which may ease out his or her pain in the hour of grief and turmoil. The doctrines of negligence, with reference to specific case law are as under: a) duty care ( Donoghue v Stevenson) b) Breach of specified duty ( Nettleship v Weston) c) breach of harm (Smith v Leech Brain & Co.) d) consequence of breach ( The Wagon Mound ) 18 Conclusion Cited Criminal law, Civil law and case laws provide sufficient cause of action against Paul whose carelessness in providing timely medical assistance claimed the life of Marlene. Had he provided timely medical treatment to Marlene, her life would have been saved. The miserable death of Marlene cannot be pardoned off by her immediate family members. The immediate family members may claim compensation against the damages for the care of her surviving child through the competent court of law. This may definitely deter others who found negligent in taking care of their near and dear.  I am of the view that the Paul has not directly been involved in the murder of  Marlene. The cause of death of Marlene is pneumonia. When Paul reported the death of Marlene to the Police, they were of the view that had she been received medical help in time, her life would have been saved. Hence the Police did not arrest him on the charge of murder of his girl friend. Since he was not directly involved in the murder of her girl friend therefore, criminal liability on Paul cannot be fixed. However under the UK law it is not a fit case for criminal proceedings. However, legal course of action can be initiated under the law of tort by the survivors of the deceased to claim compensation on account of negligence and carelessness of Paul. Bibliography David Ormerod, Smith and Hogan's Criminal Law (13th edn, OUP 2011). David Ormerod, Smith and Hogan: Criminal Law (OUP 2005). George P. Fletcher, Rethinking Criminal Law (OUP 2000). Jenny Steele, Tort Law: Text, Cases, & Materials (OUP 2007). Mark Lunney and Ken Oliphant, Tort Law – Texts, Cases (2nd edn, OUP 2003). Simon Deakin, Angus Johnston and Basil Markesinis, Tort Law (5th edn, OUP 2003). Simon Gardner, "Manslaughter by Gross Negligence" [1995] 111 Law Quarterly Review 22. William Cornish and G Clarke, Law and Society in England 1750-1950 (Sweet & Maxwell 1989). Read More