...Necessity is a civil defence while duress and duress of circumstances are criminal defences. Therefore in order to fully answer this question we must explore the defences of duress, duress of circumstances for criminal law and the defence of necessity for civil law and determine to what extent they provide a defence. In the case of Valderrama-Vega (1985) the D smuggled cocaine due to threats on his life and threats to disclose his homosexuality. The Court of Appeal quashed his conviction because the Jury did not look at the cumulative effects of all the threats that were made to him. A two stage test was introduced in the case of Graham (1982) when the D helped kill his wife because he was threatened by his homosexual lover. Was the D compelled to act as he did because he reasonably believed he had a good cause to fear serious injury or death? If so, would a sober person of reasonable firmness, sharing the characteristics of the accused have responded in the same way? As we can see by these two cases, the Courts are prepared to accept the defence when the D life is being threatened. In the case of Matrin (DP) (2000) the D suffered from a schizoid-affective state which would make him see things as threatening and believe the threats would be carried out, therefore the Court held that the correct test should have been whether, in view of the D condition, he may have reasonably feared for his own or mothers safety. So now we can see that the Court includes danger to oneself and...
Words: 1211 - Pages: 5
...NECESSITY LAW THE GENERAL RULE Necessity arises where a defendant is forced by circumstances to transgress the criminal law. The generally accepted position is that necessity cannot be a defence to a criminal charge. The leading case is: * R v Dudley and Stephens (1884) 14 QBD 273. The defendants and a cabin boy were cast adrift in a boat following a shipwreck. The defendants agreed that as the cabin boy was already weak, and looked likely to die soon, they would kill him and eat him for as long as they could, in the hope that they would be rescued before they themselves died of starvation. A few days after the killing they were rescued and then charged with murder. The judges of the Queen's Bench Division held that the defendants were guilty of murder in killing the cabin boy and stated that their obvious necessity was no defence. The defendants were sentenced to death, but this was commuted to six months' imprisonment. * Lord Coleridge CJ, having referred to Sir Matthew Hale's assertion (The History of the Pleas of the Crown, 1736) that a man was not to be acquitted of theft of food on account of his extreme hunger, doubted that the defence of necessity could ever be extended to a defendant who killed another to save his own life. After referring to the Christian aspect of actually giving up one's own life to save others, rather than taking another's life to save one's own, he referred to the impossibility of choosing between the value of one person's life and another's: ...
Words: 1991 - Pages: 8
...Boethius begins by stating how it indeed does seem to be a contradiction that God should know all things and yet there should also exist a free will. This is because it is rather paradoxical to consider that God will know a being will do something, when the being has the choice of simply doing otherwise with no greater difficulty. Such an act would imply that the divine foreknowledge had no knowledge of its occurrence from the beginning. On the other hand, if God were to truly see everything from all times, including the future, it is necessary that God knows something will and must happen. This is because anything that belongs to the divine foreknowledge cannot be an act of free will. Because of this, Boethius attempts to reconcile this conflict between free will and the divine foreknowledge. Through his dialogue partner, Lady Philosophy, Boethius suggests that it is possible for free will and divine foreknowledge to be compatible. This is, in part, due to the character of the divine essence, particularly that God is eternal. By eternal, Boethius means that God transcends the temporal realm and exists outside of...
Words: 1082 - Pages: 5
...discuss whether the doctrine of necessity is being applied adequately in the criminal law and discuss the recent decisions in these respects. In order to determine the doctrine of necessity , I would like to start with two different scenes in the recent movie, Insurgent- Divergent . On the facts of the movie, Jeanine wanted to find a divergent who is able to open the 'mystery box’. Thus, in the searching process, Eric (one of the Dauntless faction leaders) killed Uriah and a little girl who are not 100% divergence. The second situation is where Jeannie uses a threat - a simulation that causes Dauntless members to step off the roof every two days unless a Divergent (Tris) is given to the Erudite. Tris being Tris is...
Words: 2999 - Pages: 12
...Introduction: Drug abuse has always been a very delicate question as it always it deals with the health, well-being and even lives of human beings belonging to any country. The position of the United States of America towards drugs has always been very clear and distinctively negative. Throughout the history of the country there were numerous cases against drug dealers, buyers and many more. These cases did always catch the attention of civil people who by showing interest in such cases revealed their worries about the future of their own children that one-day might face this problem, too. As time goes by it get even more clear that people need to feel protection from the side of law-enforcement establishments such as police. Drugs may destroy the life of a person, therefore while fighting with drug dealers and buyers cooperatives no other interest rather than removing this “elements” from the society should be taken into account. The case, which is known as “United States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers’ Cooperative” did more than just catch the attention of people. Million of people followed the case from its very beginning and did have certain expectations concerning the outcome of the case. The specifics of the case made people have twofold points of view when analyzing the solution that was delivered by Justice Clarence Thomas concerning the case. Nevertheless, to understand the solution it is necessary to examine the case deeper and only then decide whether the Court’s decision...
Words: 1627 - Pages: 7
...available – either his home or the neighbors. The appellant then drove to a nearby telephone, called family to escort his wife to care, and returned home. Upon his return trip, a broken taillight on his vehicle allowed police to perform a traffic stop, and at that time an arrest was made for driving under a suspended license. Procedural History: Rodger Wayne Cole was convicted for driving under a suspended license, despite his defense. Ultimately the judge in this case did not charge the jury with defense of necessity. As such the appellant appeals his conviction based on the belief that the trial judge errored by not charging the jury with defense of necessity; which the court has acknowledged in previous instances. Issue: Should the trail judge have refused to allow the jury to hear the defenses argument based on the defense of necessity, given that prior courts have accepted such defense in the terms of prison escape? Pre-Existing Rules: This case sites two instances of necessity of defense for prior cases: State v. Henderson, 298 S.C. 331, 380 S.E.2d 817 (1989); State v. Worley, 265 S.C. 551, 220 S.E.2d 242 (1975). Additionally, State V. Robinson, 294 S.C. 120, 121-122, 363 S.E.2d 104, 104 (1987), is sited...
Words: 680 - Pages: 3
... 3. The specific legal problems are the following: - Does the city of Newille have any authority of enacting any law in this area? - Also, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms must be considered if any violations are against the owner and to which extent to the cousin. - Is the competition law violated? Since the case relates to a matter of enforceability of a public law, we need to start from the very bottom. The municipal governments obtain their power to enact bylaws through the Municipal Government Act. The first issue that must be addressed is, if the city of Newille has any authority to enact a bylaw in regards to advertising in a manner contrary to public safety. The authority that the Provincial Government delegates to the Municipal Government gives a wide variety of power to control local matters by the way of bylaw. The law presented in the Sections 91/92 of the Constitution Act 1867, divide the authority to legislate between the federal and provincial governments. Since the issue addresses a local matter, it is likely that the city of Newille is able to make this kind of bylaw. The preliminary issue present in this case is that there is no statement from what will result that the cousin is a legitimate employee of the deli shop. Therefore it rises couples of issues, such as, for one, if the cousin is employed by the deli shop, if he gets...
Words: 744 - Pages: 3
...Information Technology Acts BIS/220 Rassoul Allizadeh Information Technology Acts What were the advances in information technology that resulted in new ethical issues necessitating the creation of each act? The necessities for creating the fair credit reporting act of 1970, was to control the redistribution of one’s consumer information. As information technology grows, the necessities of many others things grow as well. As we progress over the years more and more people seem to fall under the cracks of identity theft. Not only are people smarter, but can get away with things too. There are specific reasons to why we adhere to rules and acts that protect us individuals and rights. On the other hand, some of the reasons why it was a necessity to create the act was due to the fact that many people were being incorrectly reported to the credit reporting agencies. Another major reason was due to consumers applying for certain advantages and got denied, consumers did not know why or what was in their file that concluded rejection. The fair credit reporting act of 1970 allowed the consumer to request and or allow the bank or credit agency to give the consumer a copy of their credit report. With that said, if the consumer did find any incorrect information in the report, then the consumer had the opportunity to dispute any incorrect information recorded. Following, is the creation of Health Insurance Portability and accountability Act (1996). This act was created to protect...
Words: 383 - Pages: 2
...Case 1 1. An agent is a person (which can include an entity, like a corporation, partnership, or LLC) who acts on behalf of and subject to the control of another by authority from him. The category of agent can affect their liability to any claims and the two main categories of agent: General agent: a general agent is an agent authorized by the principal to conduct a series of transactions involving continuity of service, like a manager of a business. A general agent does not require fresh authorization for each transaction. Special agent: a special agent is an agent who is authorized to conduct a single transaction or a series of transactions not involving continuity of service. In other words, an agent who is given specific authority and specific instructions for a specific purpose is called special agent. Jane’s contract, which gives her authority to act on their behalf for the purchase of all ladies fashion ranges fulfills three elements-consent, control and on behalf of-of an agency relationship indicating that the case satisfies the definition of agency relationship between the Jane and her employer. Jane is supposed to be regarded as a special agent since the contract specifically mentions the range of her authority which is all ladies fashion ranges. We should pay attention that, as generally, the principal will not be liable for third parties who deal with special agents in areas outwith their specific instructions. 2. Before an agency can be formed...
Words: 1553 - Pages: 7
...model for many later historians. Human Rights have been in existence since ancient times and belong to every human regardless of class, race, or status. Human Rights are standards that allow people to live with, dignity, freedom, equality and peace. These rights are necessary to a functioning society. They are important because they give us the ability to live in equality with one another as humans and live in peace. Human Rights also provide peace and justice in a struggling society and enables us to be clearly entitled to basic necessities as humans....
Words: 710 - Pages: 3
...itself. One philosopher will have one belief and another will have a completely different view and an outside person could interpret each of those philosophies in a different way. In the eyes of a utilitarian, such as John Stuart Mills, it would be considered morally justifiable to expend resources on luxuries when those same resources could provide others with the necessities of life. John Stuart Mill was historically known for utilitarianism. This means that he believed the morality of an action is determined by their consequences and uses the principle of utility to evaluate those said consequences. The principle of utility states that actions are right insofar as they promote happiness and wrong insofar as they produce the reverse of happiness. The utilitarianism that Mill is known for is broken into two separate forms. The first is act-utilitarianism; this view says that the particular consequences of each individual action is evaluated by reference to the principle of utility. The second is rule-utilitarianism; this view says that rules are established by reference to the principle of utility and then individual acts are evaluated by reference to the rules. On top of...
Words: 1277 - Pages: 6
...Automobiles Workers v. Johnson Controls, Inc. 499 U.S. 187(1991) Pingping Wang Florida International University BUL6810: The Legal Environment of Business Abstract This paper is generally about the case analysis about the supreme court case Automobiles Workers v. Johnson Controls, Inc. based on the legal documents, such as the Civil Rights Acts of 1964, and Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1987. This case is focus on the primary prospective of the Pregnancy Discrimination between the employers and employees, providing the elaborate and personal comprehension of this case issues, and then describes the inspiration refined from this case. Contents 1.Introduction 2 2. Case analysis 3 2.1 The procedure of the case receiving 3 2.2The related legal document analysis 5 2.2.1 The Civil Right Act of 1964 (Title VII) 5 2.2.2 The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 7 2.3 The causation analysis of the supreme court’s decisions based on personal comprehension 8 3. The inspiration of the case 10 4. Conclusion 11 Reference 11 Automobile Workers v. Johnson Controls, Inc, 499U.S.187 (1991) 1.Introduction Presently, the employment relationship is becoming a hot-button topic among the public, protecting the employees’ legitimate interest detailed reform and implementation in the field of the law. ...
Words: 2692 - Pages: 11
...Section 142 states “An agent has an authority, in an emergency, to take any actions to protect the principal from loss as any person of ordinary prudence will do, for himself, in the same circumstances.” The agency may exist by the consent of both parties, which are the agent and the principal. In some cases, the necessity agent will exist, in an emergency, where by a person is entrusted by force to protect other’s property, although he has not been appointed by the principal. However, it is necessary for the agent to protect the property as on principal behalf, even he has no express authority to do so. For example, in Great Northern Railway Co. vs. Swaffield,1874, cases, Mr. Swaffield sent his horse by a railway to a station at Sandy. The...
Words: 981 - Pages: 4
...Capacity to a contract defines us that parties in a contract must have the capacity to make a contract. In a simpler way, capacity is referred as legal ability to enter into a contract and the law generally states that everyone has the capacity to a contract except for certain circumstances which will be discussed in the following paragraph. Phing is 17 and underage, which makes her legally ‘incapable of capacity’ due to her minor status, and therefore any contracts made by Phing would be void ab initio except for certain exceptions, such as contracts for necessaries, scholarship contracts and insurance contracts. Section 11 of the Contracts Act 1950 is about contracts entered into by those who have no capacity. This section states that a person must satisfy the age of majority according to the Section 2 of the Age of Majority Act 1971 to which the person is subjected to. Furthermore, he or she must be of sound mind which means that both the offeror and offeree should be able to understand the contents of a contract and by forming a wise decision. The third and last point in...
Words: 842 - Pages: 4
...the Human Condition: Necessity or Luxury? MB 520 Self Leadership Abstract For many leaders, as they lead others, they cannot neglect the element of the human condition. Human condition is a phrase often used with respect, the generality of situations humans encounter in interacting with each other and the world. The human condition is composed of all human experiences (i.e. key events, characteristics, situations, etc.) which also can relate to the biological, social, intelligent, realistic, self-aware, responsible, and meaningful being to the existence of human survival. The question is, however, when leaders include the human condition in their leading, is it a luxury or necessity? This can be answered by examining the myths, leadership styles, curiosity, different personalities, and delving deeply into the leader’s self. Keywords: human condition, being, biological, social, intelligent, realistic, self-awareness, responsible, meaningful, luxury, necessity, myths, styles, curiosity Leadership & the Human Condition: Necessity or Luxury? Leaders cannot exclude the element of human condition when leading. Human condition is the generality of situations that humans face in interacting with each other and the world. Human condition is sum of all human experiences and relates different types of beings (i.e. biological, self-aware, realistic, etc.) to the existence of human survival. Is leading by including the human condition a luxury or necessity? By looking at this...
Words: 910 - Pages: 4