Читать книгу Criminal Law - Mark Thomas - Страница 89

A duty to act may also be established where the defendant voluntarily undertakes to care for another who is unable to care for himself. He may be unable to care for himself as a result of age, illness or other infirmity. As made clear above, a parent has no legal duty to care for a child who has reached the age of 18 and is ‘entirely emancipated’ (R v Shepherd (1862) Le & Ca 147). However, should that child become ill and thus dependent on his parents, there may well be a voluntary assumption of care by the parents in given circumstances requiring them to act (R v Chattaway (1922) 17 Cr App R 7).

Here, a duty may either be express or implied (see Mead, ‘Contracting into Crime: A Theory of Criminal Omissions’ (1991) 11 OJLS 147).