Today was Criminal Law day. An early morning start (especially in terms for a student) for a two-hour lecture which is visibly more empty than usual as I was able to place some stuff next to me. Then a couple of hours later, into the tutorial. While there can be an advantage of having the class a few hours after by having the ideas fresh in your head; I don’t enjoy having class so close to lectures. Unlike this blog, I do not have the time to digest the material that has been taught to me. While I won’t have this every week, this is still a bit of a nuisance for me.
In the lecture, I am learning Latin and how to spell in Latin on the fly; phrases such as sine qua non & novus actus interveniens. Half the time I am staring at someone’s laptop while they are searching the term (I write on paper, as the exams are written), leaving me to play catch up what the lecturer is saying. So, sine qua non is just a way saying that there is a causal link between the defendant’s actions and the claimant’s injury. And novus actus interveniens is just a way of saying that there is a new intervening act between the initial crime of the defendant and the claimant. The main point to take from this is that we need to ensure that when convicting someone, they are not being sentenced for something they didn’t commit, but also that they are getting a fair sentence. For example, if I was stabbed by Mike in hand and decided not to get any more treatment, thus get a blood infection and die as a result, then is Mike responsible for my death? Morally, probably; but in legal terms, as I didn’t decide to get a wound checked out, I committed the actus reus that killed me. Don’t worry about Mike though, he should still be charged with gross bodily harm for the stabbing.
Regarding the class, it was an introductory lecture (thankfully the last one), and we just went over the course, what is expected of us etc. Nothing new.
With it being Friday, I’ll call that a week. Thanks again for the support.
HP KOTECHA 