In general …
the penal law must content itself with keeping men from doing positive harm,
and must leave to public opinion, and to the teachers of morality and religion,
the offence of furnishing men with motives for doing positive good. [T]o
attempt to punish men by law for not rendering to others all the service which
it is their [moral] duty to render to others would be preposterous.
Lord Macaulay,
The Works of Lord Macaulay Complete (Lady Trevelyan ed, Longmans, Green
and Co. 1866) vol 7, 497
Explain whether you agree with Lord Macaulay’s comments regarding the introduction of a ‘Good Samaritan’ law.
In answering
this question, you should:
(a)
Explain
the general rule regarding liability for an omission to act.
(b)
Demonstrate
knowledge of the exceptions to the general rule.
(c)
Analyse
whether the law should criminalise a general failure to act when others are in
need of rescue.
(d)
Explain
your conclusion as to whether you agree with Lord Macaulay that introducing a
‘Good Samaritan’ law would be ‘preposterous’.
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