| Abstrakt: |
Unlawful act manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter are the two properly recognised types of involuntary manslaughter under the law as currently best stated. One possible lacuna, sometimes presented as a reason for these two recognised types of manslaughter being arguably insufficient, relates to those reckless omissions which fall short of gross negligence and which may appear to be excluded by case law from unlawful act manslaughter as being an omission rather than an act. This article seeks to demonstrate that there is no such lacuna and that, properly understood, the case law does not preclude liability for the "commission by omission" of unlawful act manslaughter and that consequently, on this ground at least, a third category, "reckless manslaughter", is neither needed nor desirable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
