Causation in United Kingdom

Definition of Causation

In accordance with the work A Dictionary of Law, this is a description of Causation :

The relationship between an act and the consequences it produces. It is one of the elements that must be proved before an accused can be convicted of a crime in which the effect of the act is part of the definition of the crime (e.g. murder). Usually it is sufficient to prove that the accused had *mens rea (intention or recklessness) in relation to the consequences; the *burden of proof is on the prosecutio In tort it must be established that the defendant’s tortious conduct caused or contributed to the damage to the claimant before the defendant can be found liable for that damage. Sometimes a distinction is made between the effective or immediate cause (causa causans) of the damage and any other cause in the sequence of events leading up to it (causa sine qua non). Simple causation problems are solved by the “but for” test (would the damage have occurred but for the defendant’s tort?), but this test is inadequate for cases of concurrent or cumulative causes (e.g. if the acts of two independent tortfeasors would each have been sufficient to produce the damage).

Sometimes anew act or event (novus actus (or nova causa) interveniens) may break the legal chain of causation and relieve the defendant of responsibility. Thus if a house, which was empty because of a nuisance committed by the local authority, is occupied by squatters and damaged, the local authority is not responsible for the damage caused by the squatters. Similarly, if X stabs Y, who almost recovers from the wound but dies because of faulty medical treatment, X will not have “caused” the death. It has been held, however, that if a patient is dying from a wound and doctors switch off a life-support machine because he is clinically dead, the attacker, and not the doctors, “caused” the death. If death results because the victim has some unusual characteristic (e.g. a thin skull) or particular belief (e.g. he refuses a blood transfusion on religious grounds) there is no break in causation and the attacker is still guilty.

Definition of Causation

The concept of causation is based upon the elements which go to make up criminal offences.