Actus Reus: Voluntariness

Actus Reus: Voluntariness

Definition: The actus reus of criminal offences consists of wrongful conduct, which can be a conduct, a result, a state of affairs, or an omission.

Key Elements

  1. Voluntariness
  2. Causation 
  3. Omissions  

General Problems

1. Voluntariness

• Requirement: The act must be completely involuntary for it to negate actus reus.

• Standard: "Impaired, reduced or partial control is not enough."

◦ Case: Attorney General’s Reference (No.2 of 1992) per Lord Taylor.

Pure Status Offences (State of Affairs)

• Nature: These offences criminalise being rather than doing, often applied to certain classes of people.

◦ Example:

▪ Larsonneur (1933):

▪ Facts: D was deported from the UK to Ireland, then deported from Ireland and forced to return to the UK.

▪ Outcome: Charged with an offence under the Aliens Order, illustrating the harshness of such offences.

▪ Winzar v Chief Constable of Kent (1983):

▪ Facts: D refused to leave hospital while drunk, police moved him to the highway outside.

▪ Outcome: Convicted of being ‘drunk on a highway’. The conviction stood regardless of whether he left the hospital voluntarily or was only momentarily on the highway.