Criminal law (case study) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Criminal law (case study) - Essay Example Actus reus of murder (and manslaughter) is the unlawful act that's done deliberately and is a significant cause of death of some person. If the court is able to prove that the defendant had intention to kill (that is, mens rea) then it is murder, not manslaughter. Running from home in panic, Joe pushed his brother who hurt himself when hit the ground. Later his brother went home and died at night from head trauma. Joe can be accused both of battery and manslaughter. Since there is an ambiguity about the term "touching" concerning battery (e.g., the Court of Appeal in Wilson v Pringle [1986] 2 All ER 440 stated that to prove battery "the touching must be proved to be a hostile touching"), we will analyze the third case later. Post-traumatic stress disorder is "an anxiety disorder in which a particularly stressful event, such as military combat, rape, or a natural disaster, brings in its aftermath intrusive mental images of experiencing a traumatic event, emotional numbness and detachment, estrangement from others2" etc. One of the common responses of people with PTSD is uncontrollable behaviour that can be expressed in fits of anger (Chemtob et al., 1997) towards other persons or even assault on them. According to Mental Health Act 1983, there are different kinds of PTSD patients' treatment, e.g., hospitalisation, guardianship, supervision and treatment. The story tells us nothing about it, but since it will be essential later, we assume two probable situations: there was no medical treatment and control of Joe's disorder; there was medical supervision and treatment, but Joe was considered harmless at that time as there were no more measures provided. Having had flashback caused by victim's actions, Joe had lost the sense of reality and behaved according to his traumatic experience. The victim screamed and it caused Joe to have an imaginary return in the traumatic situation and probably to treat the victim as an enemy soldier. Joe's mind has created a delusive situation in which ex-soldier believed that his actions are correct: such belief in moral and legal rightfulness is the first reason to plead diminished responsibility (see Bratty v AG for Northern Ireland (1963) AC 386 at 409). The second factor is total loss of control. Since there were cases when partial loss of control didn't make an acquittal (e.g., in Broome v Perkins (1987) Crim LR 271), the defendant must prove that he had no possibility to control his actions, for the burden of proof in the case of insanity lies with the defendant. Then we must prove that either insanity or automatism took place. The factor that triggered flashback was external that should prove automatism, but Joe's reactions were atypical because of his mental illness that is the inner factor. There is an opinion that "if the defendant loses control because of an illness, that is, some internal factor, he can only plead insanity" (Hill v Baxter (1958) 1 QB 277). But there is the external factor in our case, the victim's scream. We should point that Joe's reaction was atypical and unexpected, and also can refer to the case of R v Rabey (1997) (Canadian case), in which defendant battered his

Olympics as a Platform for Political Protests Essay

Olympics as a Platform for Political Protests - Essay Example Some people believe that by using the Olympics as a platform for political issues, they exert pressure upon oppressive governments and such governments may be forced to change their regime. It is a fact that 2008 Olympics to be held in China has sparked lots of debate. The above writer believes that these protests are actually prompting the Chinese government to review their policies towards Tibet. The latter country is fighting for independence and in order to gain international support, there is a need to choose the right movement when all eyes are on the host country. Such people argue that if they were to choose another time like after the Olympics, very few countries will be interested in the problems of China. Also using sporting events as a platform for political issues allows other countries to demonstrate their disdain about the actions of those oppressive regimes. There are also claims that host countries need to foster the image of the Olympics. This means that they need to portray the peace and unity that is synonymous with the event. If a host country has not been doing this, then it can be seen as a form of hypocrisy. The Chinese government has been criticized for its human rights abuses. There have reports about how the Chinese government prevents its citizens from discussing issues about their government. Furthermore, the Chinese government normally discourages most foreigners form discussing their problems claiming that it has nothing to do with them; they believe that they are the only ones with a right to solve their problems. In light of these arguments, it would be quite unfair for such a government to hold the Olympics and claim that they foster the spirit of unity that is synonymous with the torch. (Rice, 2008) Some people believe that protests should be conducted in any platforms a long as there is room to be heard. Furthermore, they believe that sometimes members of the host country may not have the political freedom to do so consequently, the international community needs top help them in this. For instance, there are numerous goods in the US government that come form the Chinese government. But workers in that location have minimal access to basic resources. Most of them are subjected to harsh working conditions and low pay. They cannot complain about this situation because it may bring problems. Consequently, the international community needs to help the Chinese workers by voicing their complaints. These complaints will only be noticed when the country stands to loose something. For instance, if the international countries boycotts the Olympics, then chances are the Chinese government will loose a lot. It may therefore be promoted to change their worker's conditions due to these chang es. Arguments against using the Olympics as a platform for political protests 'Sport is sport and politics is politics. There has never been anyone who has belied the fact that sport is the best way of uniting peoples.' (Brincat, 2008)