Altruism and the criminal law : duties of rescue and tolerance / Andrew Ashworth, Juan Ignacio Piña Rochefort.

London : Hart Publishing, 2025.

1st edition

202796

Criminal law.

Altruism.

Responsibility.

1. A framework of common law criminal law

1.1. Six principles

1.2. Diving into principles a and b: obligations and omissions in English criminal law

2. Altruism and legal duties

2.1. Introduction: underlying duties approach

2.2. The semantic core.

2.2.1. The core of the core: the harm principle or the negative obligation of neminem laedere

2.2.2. Second stage: special positive duties

2.2.3. Actions and omissions in negative and positive duties

2.3. The semantic periphery: positive general duties

2.3.1. The so-called altruistic obligations as general positive duties

2.3.2. Actions and omissions in general positive duties

2.3.3. Wrongdoing in general positive duties

2.4. The hidden solidarity: the duty to tolerate harm

2.5. Structural comparison between the duty to rescue and the duty to tolerate

2.5.1. The emergency situation as context

2.6. General scheme of duties and the place of altruism: on the horns of positive and negative obligations

3. foundations of the duty to rescue

3.1. The philosophical path of the common law

3.1.1. The first layer: Thomas Hobbes' negative liberty

3.2. The path of continental European thought

4. Altruistic obligations and the duty of easy rescue

4.1. Altruistic duties as general positive obligations

4.1.1. Towards a legal concept of altruism.

4.1.2. Should these positive duties fall upon the state or the individual?

4.1.3. The seriousness function and the duty to rescue

4.1.4. Altruistic obligations and liberal criminal law

4.1.5. Limits of altruistic obligation

4.2. Criminalising a duty of easy rescue

4.2.1. Examples of easy rescue offences. .

4.2.2. When does the duty arise? The emergency situation.

4.2.3. Proximity.

4.2.4. How much sacrifice should be demanded: the good Samaritan standard?

4.2.5. Moving away from the good Samaritan standard

4.2.6. Drawing a distinction: different sacrifices for different altruistic duties

4.2.7. Awareness of the emergency

4.2.8. Defences

4.2.9. Rule-of-law concerns and the principle of legality

4.3. The duty of easy rescue: definition and operation

5. Other positive obligations in English law

5.1. Non-altruistic positive obligations in English criminal law

5.1.1. Positive obligations and the law of homicide

5.1.2. The duty of parent to child

5.1.3. The duty of a member of a household to a child or vulnerable person

5.1.4. The duty of a family member to a brother, sister or other relative

5.1.5. Duty of an adult towards their parent(s):

5.1.6. Duty towards a spouse, partner or cohabitant

5.1.7. The duty towards a friend

5.1.8. A duty towards co-adventurers

5.1.9. A duty based on an assumption of responsibility

5.1.10. A duty based on the creation of a dangerous situation

5.2. Re-assessing criminal liability for homicide by omission

5.3. Corollary: the place of altruism in the constellation of criminalised legal duties

6. Conclusion.

This book explores the foundations of the principle of altruism and its relationship to the criminal law, examining the contrasting justifications for the duty of easy rescue and the duty of tolerance, both of which are based on altruism. Since the days of Lord Macaulay and James Fitzjames Stephen, it has been said that English law does not usually punish omissions, and that altruistic duties are incompatible with the spirit of the common law. This book aims to show that this is not an accurate description of English criminal law, and that there is a strong case to be made for the opposite understanding, based on principles advanced by authors such as Adam Smith, Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill and others. By analysing the duty of easy rescue – which imposes on individuals a duty to take steps to rescue a person in danger if this can be done without risk to the rescuer, or at least a duty to call the emergency services – and by comparing it with the well-known duties arising in cases of extreme necessity, it can be shown that altruism has plenty to say in different parts of the criminal law. Having established the case for criminalising the failure to provide a simple rescue, a detailed analysis is made of the form that this criminalisation should take, bearing in mind the basic principles of English law and considering the strengths and weaknesses of the duty of easy rescue as it is formulated in various continental systems, including the German, French, Spanish and Italian criminal codes. - Publisher's website.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

9781509985760

xii, 182 pages ; 24 cm