NCJ Number
116691
Journal
Law and Contemporary Problems Volume: 49 Issue: 3 Dated: (Summer 1986) Pages: 161-180
Date Published
1986
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This article examines the narrow construction of the requirement to render easy aid in Anglo-American law, focusing on whether failures to act can be construed as legal conduct and whether failures to act could give rise to criminal liability.
Abstract
Unlike most European legal systems, the Anglo-American law system does not require a bystander to give easy aid to one who is seriously in danger provided the bystander sees the danger and is able to help. The article examines the logical, verbal, and physical distinctions between acting and failing to act that are found in the English language as well as the causal connections between harm suffered and aid not given. The article concludes that proposals criminalizing certain failures to act must surmount significant cultural impediments: the tendency to see failures to act as all being of equal status and the Anglo-American temptation to link acts with action. Because of our deep commitment to individualism, there is a hesitancy to legislate Good Samaritan conduct. In cultures where individuality is seen as a social achievement, the requirement to render easy aid will be encouraged. 51 footnotes.