What Makes You Who You Are

The perennial debate about nature and nurture–which is the more potent shaper of the human essence? –is perennially rekindled. It flared up again in the London Observer of Feb. 11, 2001. REVEALED: THE SECRET OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR, read the banner headline. ENVIRONMENT, NOT GENES, KEY TO OUR ACTS. The source of the story was Craig Venter, the self-made man of genes who had built a private company to read the full sequence of the human genome in competition with an international consortium funded by taxes and charities.That sequence–a string of 3 billion letters, composed in a four-letter alphabet, containing the complete recipe for building and running a human body–was to be published the very next day (the competition ended in an arranged tie). The first analysis of it had revealed that there were just 30,000 genes in it, not the 100,000 that many had been estimating until a few months before. Details had already been circulated to journalists under embargo. B ut Venter, by speaking to a reporter at a biotechnology conference in France on Feb. , had effectively broken the embargo. Not for the first time in the increasingly bitter rivalry over the genome project, Venter's version of the story would hit the headlines before his rivals'. â€Å"We simply do not have enough genes for this idea of biological determinism to be right,† Venter told the Observer. â€Å"The wonderful diversity of the human species is not hard-wired in our genetic code. Our environments are critical. † In truth, the number of human genes changed nothing.Venter's remarks concealed two whopping nonsequiturs: that fewer genes implied more environmental influences and that 30,000 genes were too few to explain human nature, whereas 100,000 would have been enough. As one scientist put it to me a few weeks later, just 33 genes, each coming in two varieties (on or off), would be enough to make every human being in the world unique. There are more than 10 billio n combinations that could come from flipping a coin 33 times, so 30,000 does not seem such a small number after all.Besides, if fewer genes meant more free will, fruit flies would be freer than we are, bacteria freer still and viruses the John Stuart Mill of biology. Fortunately, there was no need to reassure the population with such sophisticated calculations. People did not weep at the humiliating news that our genome has only about twice as many genes as a worm's. Nothing had been hung on the number 100,000, which was just a bad guess. But the human genome project–and the decades of research that preceded it–did force a much more nuanced understanding of how genes work.In the early days, scientists detailed how genes encode the various proteins that make up the cells in our bodies. Their more sophisticated and ultimately more satisfying discovery–that gene expression can be modified by experience–has been gradually emerging since the 1980s. Only now is it dawning on scientists what a big and general idea it implies: that learning itself consists of nothing more than switching genes on and off. The more we lift the lid on the genome, the more vulnerable to experience genes appear to be.

Kenneth Slessor Speech: Critical studies of Texts Essay

†The gulls go down the body dies and rots, and time flows past them like the hundred yachts.† Kenneth Slessor, a renowned poet and journalist was born on the 27th of March 1901 in Orange, New South Wales. Throughout his eventful life, Slessor was able to compose an array of poems through which he was able to convey his experiences through life. But why exactly are his poems still considered so relevant and significant in this era? Firstly, Slessor’s poems were widely recognised for their ability to accurately depict his understanding of humanity, life, death and change. Across his oeuvre he conveys a unique yet consistent view of the meaning of life and death. He presents this through the use of poetic techniques such as metaphors, repetition, similes and alliteration which are evident through all of his poems. Good morning/afternoon Mr Younes and Yr. 12. The poems â€Å"Out of Time† and â€Å"Beach Burial† are both compositions of Slessor’s later work that are considered memorable and influential by many of his critics. They are said to reveal his interaction with the environment and clearly depict his immediate emotions. I am sure that you will all agree that Slessor’s work is significant in today’s era because of his ability to cleverly and creatively use features to inter-relate the true essence of his poems. The poem ‘Out of time’ vividly initiates the essence of life and humanity as being primarily dominated and controlled by Time. Many critical analysis of Slessor’s work convey that his perception of time is that of a mystery, something that cannot be clearly defined and comprehended. His personal connection with time is deluded with the fact that it can be both a destructive force and a pleasure found in a moment. The adamant and unstoppable nature of time; causes it to solely control and thus highlight the vulnerability of the human existence. As observed in the first sonnet the destructive nature of time is expressed through the lines â€Å"Or time, the bony knife, it runs me through†¦time takes me, drills me, drives through bone and vein.† Metaphorically, time is referred to as a knife which is usually related with the feelings of betrayal and deceit. Thus, Slessor finds that time is a masked identity victimising humanity the ‘faceless host’ and moving on without hesitation or remorse. Similarly, Slessor’s experience as a war correspondent in El Alamein observing â€Å"†¦Convoys of dead soldiers† rolling to shore led to the inspiration of composing the elegy ‘Beach Burial.’ He explores the nature of time and the unfortunate occurrence of war. The intense and futile nature of war educates Slessor to conclude that time is the conqueror that withholds the universal fate of death. Have you ever felt invisible in a crowded area? Well, this is precisely what Slessor conveys death to be like. Death is commonly interpreted as the termination of life, a force that has an eternal end. Once our time is up we have no link to this world but are rather taken up to the â€Å"Other front.† Slessor clearly states that once death has its grasp, humanity will lose its identity as they will eventually be lost in a memory taken by time. This is reinforced in â€Å"Beach Burial† in the lines â€Å"Unknown seaman- the ghostly pencil wavers and fades†¦the wet season has washed their inscriptions†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The styles of Slessor’s poems are unique yet there is still a relative consistency evident throughout his oeuvre. In the poem â€Å"Out of Time† Slessor presents the poem in a cyclical pattern that imitates the nature of time. The last line of each sonnet is the beginning line of the next thus indicating a link throughout the poem. Slessor makes this style distinctive by beginning the poem with â€Å"I saw Time flowing like the hundred yachts† and ending with â€Å"And Time flows past them like a hundred Yachts.† Wouldn’t you agree that his use of repetition and personification of time clearly expresses the main value of this poem? Through these techniques Slessor cleverly portrays that time is a continuous force that will never come to an end but will always have its command over humanities life. On the contrary, the style of the poem â€Å"Beach Burial† is that of an elegy. By presenting his poem in this style, Slessor conveys the empathy that he felt as a result of his experience in El Alamein. The use of onomatopoeic reference â€Å"†¦The sob and clubbing of gunfire†¦Ã¢â‚¬  accurately depicts the futility and harsh nature of war. He then primarily expresses that death has the last say because in the end all of humanity will ultimately be untied by death through fate. This is portrayed in the line â€Å"Whether as enemies they fought†¦the sand joins them together.† A common technique that I am sure you all are aware off is that of water imagery. Water like time is a vast force that is eternal in nature, its ability to be both rough and calm precisely reflects the nature of time and the gloominess of death. The imagery of water is commonly used throughout Slessor’s oeuvre. It is reinforced in the stanzas of ‘Out of Time’ in the lines â€Å"So time, the wave, enfolds me in its bed†¦.water bends†¦the tide goes over.† And in â€Å"Beach Burial† in the lines â€Å"†¦They sway and wander in the waters far under†¦Ã¢â‚¬  As you may have noticed, the structural integrity of Slessor’s work can be seen as a solid representation of the values that he so intricately portrays. Both â€Å"Out of Time† and â€Å"Beach Burial† are composed with completely different structures yet still effectively portray the values of each poem. Composed of an ensemble of three quatrains and a couplet forming a sonnet, â€Å"Out of Time† is characterised by three sonnets. In each of these sonnets Slessor expresses a different aspect of time, linking them together to form a poem that is similar to that of an anecdote. However, the irregularity of the lines in â€Å"Beach Burial† mimics the movement of waves creating an atmosphere and mood that is both solemn and humble. Don’t you agree that this creative use of imagery precisely delineates the depth of Slessor’s emotions? Hopefully I have given you a thorough insight as to why Slessor’s poems are still relevant and significant today. It is evident to see that the themes and values that he expresses through his poems are off a universal significance and his ability to convey them through poetic devices accurately depicts the central notions of his poems. Thus, readers such as us and even critics are able to relate and recognise the articulate nature of his work and for this reason Slessor’s work will continue to be of a great significance.

Literary Analysis of the poem Beowulf Essay

Beowulf is considered as one of the longest poems in literature with more than 3,000 lines. It is has no known author, but it was considered as the national epic of England. Beowulf is a man – a hero who faced three major battles in the poem. These battles were not against other humans, but were against monstrous creatures (The Norton Anthology of English Literature). It is a poem that deals with legends, of hero and his men, and his great battles. It is composed mainly to entertain, a work of fiction with several relations to historical context. And with this, some speculations were raised, saying that Beowulf was something more that a poetic narrative of the hero, Beowulf. The epic poem was then related to a Christian context, saying that it was a Christian allegory. The poem takes place in the late 5th to 6th century, following the Anglo-Saxon’s settlement in England, after making contact with Germanic tribes in Scandinavia and Germany. Beowulf may be based on real people and real events at that time in Scandinavia. The clans mentioned in the poem were clans which are found in the area, as well as some of the prominent personalities in the story. So basically, the epic poem is a work of fiction but was based on factual characters and events during that time. The time of Beowulf was a time of Paganism, but Beowulf himself addresses a higher being rather than man, wherein he presents himself to the Father Almighty. According to Helterman, â€Å"As the view of the intellectual setting has shifted from a pagan to a Christian context, this ‘something more’ has been seen as a Christian allegory or didacticism†¦yet the tone of the poem and the lack of specific Christian allusions cause difficulties for such an approach (Helterman). The poem didn’t mention anything regarding Christianity, and Beowulf was a pagan. But there were several â€Å"Christian sentiments of a general sort† which were attributed to the hero. Because of the Christian-like characterization of the hero Beowulf, there were several speculations saying that the author was a Christian in England who wrote about Scandinavian history, which then became the epic poem Beowulf. But some said that the Christian attribution in the hero’s character could mean that he was an archetype, the generic, idealized model of a person (Chickering). And at that time, Christianity was a budding religion, wherein Beowulf’s character could have been patterned into that of an ideal Christian. Beowulf as the hero of the epic was made the way he is, the ideal person. But then again, every hero has its counterparts. And just like Beowulf, his counterpart can be seen in a Christian context. The epic poem Beowulf is divided into three major battles. The first one is his battle with the monstrous creature called Grendel, which was the reason why he went to Hrotgar. Just like Beowulf, Grendel also has a Christian context. He is to be the descendant of Cain, the son of Adam and Eve which was banished for killing his own brother. Because of this, Grendel is given an antagonistic comparison with Cain, who was the first person to commit murder in the Christian bible. Grendel, along with his mother, was compared to as the kinsmen of Cain, whereas Beowulf was the pagan hero considered as the archetype of a human being. Beowulf and Grendel were great opposites, as manifestation of the forces of good battling with the forces of evil, or in the context of religion and Christianity, will be righting the wrong. Beowulf’s character is the manifestation of Christianity’s good; wherein his defense of Heorot was an act to â€Å"order the chaotic universe,† where Grendel and his mother on the other hand, were the forces that bring chaos, falling into pattern of disorder (Batchelor). This is manifested by their physical appearance wherein they do not resemble or have any human characteristics. They were monstrous in size and strength. They can kill people with the swipe of their hands, and they even eat people, as to what Grendel did to Hrotgar’s men. Another possible association with religion and Christianity was during the creation of Heorot, the great hall which was built for the people of King Hrotgar (Helterman). The creation of the hall was because of the word of the king. It is the same as that of the Christian’s Genesis, wherein with the word of God, there was light. And it was with that word that He was able to create day and night, and everything that he wished and commanded. Just as with Hrotgar’s word, Heorot was created, all for the sake of the people, since in this hall they dined, ate and sang, until the time that Grendel came into the story. When Grendel came, it was like introducing chaos into order so that you could cleanse it, just like the cleansing of the sins of the people, just like the Great flood, where chaos or the flood was added in order to cleanse the world of the sinners. When Grendel came into Heorot, chaos caused destruction, thus it would require reconstruction, where after reconstruction was the cleansed state. Grendel, even though he caused a great deal of devastation to the people, has served a purpose, which was to strengthen the then destroyed Heorot. His chaos has led to a good outcome in the story. It could also be viewed on another angle, where the battle between Beowulf and Grendel was actually the same as to that of the myth of creation, where light and darkness mixed and â€Å"fought† in order to create the earth and everything in it. Another instance that relates the epic poem Beowulf to Christianity was during the battle against the mother of Grendel. Beowulf was definite on the losing end at that moment, since his sword, Hrunting, lost its powers and cannot harm the creature he is up against with. In his desperation, he was able to locate a sword in the Grendel’s lair, which only he could be able to use. It was a heavy sword of the giant, which he used to behead the mother of Grendel and eventually prolong his life. Even though he was able to slay the monster and keep his life, he gives the credit of his victory to the â€Å"higher being,† the â€Å"Wielder of Men. † It was an indirect association to God in Christianity, since he recognizes His powers and that his victory wasn’t possible without him. Beowulf being a pagan is just a characteristic, since there was no evidence of him knowing about Christianity (Batchelor). But the fact that he addresses to a higher being is a manifestation of being Christian even in his beliefs. The epic poem Beowulf is truly a literary piece that was made to entertain, with the life of Beowulf as a hero, his adventures, his battles, and even his death, makes it a wonderful read. But there are other underlying concerns that could come about while reading the epic. It is undeniable that there are other meanings in what was written, rather than just to entertain. The poem Beowulf is associated with religion, especially Christianity. The main character’s recognition of a higher being is but one of many manifestations of this underlying messages.

Scenario Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Scenario Analysis - Essay Example main point that he intends to bring out with these laws is that even though a person reacts to situations using his conscience, that person might do better if he has certain principals within which he abides by. As a policeman at a friend’s party I observe a group of people who are friends to my friend snorting cocaine, it is a legal obligation to arrest the people and take them into custody, but this is an old friend and I would not like to spoil our relationship The moral problem in this scenario is the usage of cocaine. This illegal and highly addictive drug has a tendency to affect the judgment of those who use it. It is wrong to use cocaine. The law does not allow the usage of this drug because of its adverse effects on users. There is a dilemma that comes out as a result on whether to act on conscience or by principles, which in this case are the regulations of the government. According to the government, I am supposed to arrest the people who are using the drug. If I were to react on my conscience, I would explain to them the situation in which they are putting me in. I would advise them not to do that again and join a rehabilitation facility. I would warn them that if this happens again, they would leave me no choice but to arrest them. According to Fuller, I would react on the instinct that tells me to defend my position as a police officer, according to his rules stated above there are rules that states a should take them in. If I d id not honor that rule, I would be failing the police department. Therefore, the main stand here would be to arrest the friends of my old friend and take them in. it might not be the morally right decision, but according to the rules, it is the right thing to do. I am in a situation where a friend has offered me a gift basket with some money. I am a community officer and people may take this as a bribe, I can chose to either refuse the token or take it. There is no rule deterring me from taking a gift from a friend. After

Genetic Engineering in Oryx and Crake Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Genetic Engineering in Oryx and Crake - Essay Example From this perspective, the current paper critically analyses the novel Oryx and Crake by Atwood. To achieve this objective, the paper examines the possible outcomes of present pursuit of genetic engineering illustrated in the illusionary world created by the author and makes connections to present realities. A critical analysis of the novel Oryx and Crake reveals that Atwood’s main argument relates to the detrimental effects associated with advances in science and technology, especially genetic engineering. Genetic engineering is a technology which involves manipulation of organisms and their genetic make-up. The genetic manipulation may involve inserting foreign genes into an organism to alter its biological, physical and behavioral characteristics. While genetic engineering has been used for beneficial purposes, the advancement in DNA technology has raised numerous questions about the possible impact on society. Nicholl asserts that genetic engineering is an emotive subject (4). The novel examines these consequences from ethical, scientific, economic and social perspectives. The novel begins by illustrating an unidentified event leading to the collapse of morality and civilization. Snowman, the protagonist lives with bizarre human creatures, called the Crackers. The world depicted by Atwood is characterized by atypical beasts, products of DNA technology. From the interjected scenes, it becomes clear that Snowman grew up as Jimmy, who became friends with Glenn (Crake), a talented science student. The two liked playing computer games and watching child pornography. Crake pursues career in bioengineering while Jimmy takes on humanities and literature. Crake creates the Crakes, human-like engineered creatures and befriends a prostitute, Oryx. In addition, Crake develops a contagious engineered virus in the disguise of a drug. The virus infects all human subjects apart from Jimmy who has been innocuously vaccinated against it. The world depicted in the Oryx and Crake illustrates possible outcomes of the advancement in science and technology, especially the use of DNA technology in genetic engineering. While science and technology presents enormous benefits to societies, when these technologies and processes are not controlled they poses detrimental effects. Genetic engineering is one of the most interesting technologies in the 21st century. The ability to create organisms with super-qualities outlines the beneficial outcomes related to DNA technology. However, if scientific experimentation with the genetic-make up of organisms could also result to detrimental effects. This could happen via both deliberate manipulations to create harmful organisms or due to accidental escape of experimental biological material from contained systems. The Oryx and Crake envision a fictional society, in which genetic engineering has been used to create synthetic food products and organisms that threaten the existence of the very society they are made to benefit. A critical analysis of the masterpiece reveals that the author depicts the possible consequences that could arise due to advancement in science and technology. For instance, the novel illustrates the creation of a virulent virus in the disguise of a drug. This illustration depicts the possible use of technology to create harmful

Paper about your experience in Ice-cream social and a game of Jenga Essay

Paper about your experience in Ice-cream social and a game of Jenga - Essay Example I, however, soon started feeling uncomfortable and suspected a body reaction after every ice cream social event. It was not until my worst experience that I stopped participating in the events and restrained from taking ice cream and exposing myself to cold environmental factors. This followed a diagnosis that I became asthmatic, a health complication that is triggered by allergic reaction to cold among other factors. The attack was so severe during my last ice cream social event that I had to be rushed to the hospital, in an ambulance, moments later. I also had a reversed experience with the jenga game that I initially thought was complicated and less interesting. Taking time with peers and the pride of being the best in the game however won my interest and I soon determined to learn the game’s rules. I then realized that the jenga game combined both artistic and analytical skills of establishing a balance for the masses in the built structure. I then excelled and became one of the top players in the game that later captivated my

Answering questions and doing research Assignment

Answering questions and doing research - Assignment Example They do not indicate any doubt on the Adidas products or material durability. The only challenge that came out, however, was the issue of design and price. There is a need for Adidas to input more efforts and try to design new products that are attractive to the customers. Several people have heard about â€Å"Adidas† as a brand and have bought Adidas products before. However, the populations had varying attitudes and perception towards Adidas. Some thought that Adidas was a product of some famous football (Regine Business Research, 2013). Research also reveals that other people initially thought that Adidas was a brand meant for people who were of very high class. Most of the people, however, indicated that they buy Adidas products and prefer the Adidas products over the products of other brands such as Nike and Puma. Several respondents feel satisfied with the material and quality used in the products of Adidas. The respondents however had issues with the design of the products of Adidas. They feel that Adidas design is sub-standard with no attractive, stylish design. Several people preferred the Nike designs. Some people compare it to Nike and come out with some differences. Some people feel that Adidas has a problem with its branding as compared to Nike. People get positive and immediate impressions when thinking about the Nike brand and to the contrary, not when the same people think about the brand of Adidas. Adidas has got no stellar branding work like Nike making the market share of Nike relative. As a result, the worldwide market share of Adidas is almost half that of Nike (Regine Business Research, 2013). It is very important for Adidas to consider the influences from the groups because the groups and the company mutually depend on each other. According to Beard (2014), the groups consume the products of Adidas and, therefore, influence the success of the company

Categorize Costs as Fixed, Variable and Semi-Variable for a Given Assignment

Categorize Costs as Fixed, Variable and Semi-Variable for a Given Scenario - Assignment Example Contribution per product/customer will calculate how much contribution a certain product would earn for every unit of sales generated, which is expressed as a percentage or decimal. If the C/S ratio is 0.4, for every  £1 of sales revenue, 40 pence will be a contribution. Cost-Volume-Profit analysis looks at changes in profits as variable costs, fixed costs, sales price and quantity change. It is also called â€Å"what if?† analysis and it particularly looks at sales less variable costs. It is also called a contribution. With the contribution, management can easily understand the level of sales that they are likely to start making profits or cover all costs. For one to have a successful business there must be a clear understanding of the financial impact that basic financial decisions may pose (Dohr, Howell 1946, p15). One is ought to know his or her most profitable services or products, what will happen if sales volumes will suddenly drop, the impact of lowering sales prices or taking a loan, etc. To answer these questions, Cost/Volume/Profit (CVP) analysis becomes the answer (Atkinson 1997, p51). Cost/Volume/Profit analysis examines the relationships between variable costs and fixed costs, profits and sales volumes. The contribution margin analysis will help an entrepreneur in comparing the profitability of different products, services or even a line that he or she is offering. Breakeven analysis will help a businessperson to tell the sales volumes that he or she will need to breakeven under different cost scenarios and prices (Upchurch, 2002, 72). Operative leverage, on the other hand, will examine the degree at which the business is using fixed costs, this will in turn magnify the returns when there is an upturn in sales and will also magnify losses as sales will be  dropping.

Course review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Course review - Essay Example However, the antisocial and terrorist groups and agencies play a certain monopoly whereby the solution is only in their grasp, and the victim is left completely defenseless. This is another nature of the manmade terrorist threats; they are targeted, so that a certain section of the population is at risk while the rest are safe or completely unaware of the posing danger (Covey). This makes the threat more dangerous and criminal. With the advancement in technology and the evolution of ideas, the nature of threats has also changed and modified, becoming more sophisticated and complex, and more targeted. The scope of these threats is also becoming more global, and surprisingly, more virtual or transparent, so that they are now very difficult to spot and equally difficult to defend against (Cyber Threats of the Future). The type of threat that society faces at a certain point in time depends upon the framework of that society, and the technical and educational advancement of that era. Whe reas there was, not long ago, a very imminent threat of nuclear warfare, and to some extent, still is, it has become more controlled now due to international treatises and the ownership of nuclear technology by many countries worldwide, so that it is no longer an exclusive technology (Covey). The defenses and the weapons have also been modified in lieu of the changes in the offense. Where there were once wars against entire countries and nations, such as the world wars I and II, more recently, the perpetrators are merely a few individuals who organize crime through the use of agencies and networks. Hence, in modern times, the targets are individuals and small organizations. This is due to the concept of organized crime in the recent times (Hoffman). The future threats and the defense against them would be, in the most likelihood, more technological and virtual than physical, and of a nature that few would have thought of or considered a serious threat. Many of these dangers still se em a work of science fiction films and novels, and the masses still refuse to accept them as viable and potent threats. However, there is growing evidence and attitude toward the application and employment of those technologies in a negative and anti-social manner for highly targeted and suspiring attacks and warfare. This paper purports to discus three of such threats: the cyber threats, artificial intelligence, and biomedical threats. The advent of the Internet has radically changed the nature of the global community, in terms of its reach, connectivity, and the speed of transfer of information and data (Cyber Threats of the Future). The world has literally been connected together through wireless and optical technology, shifting the paradigms of social interactions, educational and academic systems, government workings, military and defense mechanisms, private and public sector, and the corporate world (Cyber Threats of the Future). The technology has touched users on individual and personal levels, while the degree of customization and user-friendly interfaces are improving and increasing everyday (Cyber Threats of the Future). There is now more and more centralized collection and storage of sensitive and personal data, which in itself has become

Jose Rizals Life Essay Example for Free

Jose Rizals Life Essay 1. Surname-â€Å"Rizal† Jose Rizal and his family got the surname Rizal from his Chinese ancestor Domingo Lameo. Rizal means Ricial or grains, and they started using it 1731. His true surname is Mercado, but to keep his family safe he used the surname Rizal. His brother insisted that he adopt the name Rizal in order to avoid the obvious stigma that the Alonzo y Mercado name had recieved from Pacianos association with Father Burgos, and the familys prominence in the native community. Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Where_did_Jose_Rizal_get_his_surname_Rizal#ixzz1C3si8ka5 http://www.schillerinstitute.org/educ/hist/rizal.html 2. Jose Rizal’s reason in going out of the country Rizal went out of the country because he wants to discover,explore other places and to learn new things. Rizal went to other countries to study, he also wants to learn different languages, he studied medicine because he wants to give cure of his mother’s eyes. Rizal build up businesses, experiencing life to the fullest while he’s out of the country, he changes his girlfriend whenever he wants. But going out of the country is not about pleasure, Rizal was there to hide, because he’s life was already in danger that he has to hide for awhile. There are many accussations thrown on him during those times. He has to go out of the country with all his love for his family and for all the filipinos; to protect his family and his countrymen. If he choses to expose himself to the opponent, whole filipinos life will be in much danger than it really was. 3. Part of Rizal’s life  2 May 1883 – Visitacià ³n 8 – 3rd floor, No. 4 Yesterday, one year ago I left my home to come to this country. How many illusions one entertained and how many deceptions! Yesterday, all day and night, I kept recalling all that had happened to me since then. I took my diary and read it, which reminded me of faded impressions. Though sick, Ill continue my diary because I see that it is most useful and above all it consoles the soul when nothing more remains of its former treasures. This morning I went to see the celebration of Dos de Mayo (2nd May) [05]. There were many people around the obelisk where I saw a tiny altar with some candles. Everywhere could be heard the cries of newspaper vendors which recalled the 2nd of May. In the afternoon we Zamora, Villanueva, and I went to see the civic procession. Many soldiers and members of the different corporations. The King does not attend this national celebration. I received from the Philippines a letter of L.R. [06] of 26 March. * Rizal went out of the country because of his true love for the country and his family. He wants to protect those people that he really love. During the day that he wrote it, he’s sick, he’s like crying everything to his diary and that is the best that he did, to write, he write everything coz he knows that those writings will be very useful to help and save his country, but what i like about it is that he uses a diary in dealing with his emotions, the diary is like someone who will collect every details of your story. It’s almost a treasure, it holds everything even secrets. During that sad moment, rizal recalls some moments of his life, from the day that he’s in the Philippines up to the day that he has to leave for the sake of everyone. With a diary, everything was just like yesterday. I was really touched will this part of his diary. Even he’s sick he still keeps on writing, i can really realate here, i can imagine him writing while recalling those sad moments of his life, it’s painful and really wanna makes me cry, because Rizal has been a very good man ever since he was born, Rizal was full of love, he’s really humble, and being humble is not an easy thing to learn. It’s not just about doing good things, it’s about doing good things from the heart, and Rizal was always sincere on what he intended to do same with what he really does..even sacrificing his own life, from his heart he sincerely wants to give it up just to save every life of his country men. And that intention will never be easy to do, you will just learn to do it when you’re humble and full of love just like Rizal, his intentions are good and it really reflects him . Life of rizal was not that good at all, he has to sacrifice, he has to suffer, he has to hide even tough all that he want was to write and make the filipinos realize that they’re being cheated and abused by those foreigner, those people who came from other country was very deceitful, they’ve been a dictator and pretentous that the filipinos are not awared of it and they let their fears and stupidity control them. He died beacuse of his love for every filipino and it’s not right to question him being our national hero, after all that he has done, Rizal’s diaries has been very useful, all of his writings are useful, it really tells how he fought for our country in more simple ways. Every writings has a story to tell. I like every part of Rizal’s life when he’s writing, i don’t know all that he write but i like that he is writing. It’s not just about the diary, i mean everytime that he write. Coz i want to write as well as if i’m a writer but i don’t know where to start coz i think you really have to be knowledgeable, it’s not just you’ll write but you have to make sure that it has an appeal and it will effectively influence the readers, so i am really amazed because Rizal was very smart and god has given him that talent to write, he’s full of passion on everything. Before and now, he is a very good author of those well known books. He has influence everyone before to fight with him for the country against those user and abusive people from other country.

Mrs Mallard Character Analysis

Mrs Mallard Character Analysis Louise Mallard is the protagonist of The Story of an Hour. The entire story is about her preservation. Chopin portrays Mrs. Mallard as a woman who is in deep suffering. She is not only suffering from a marriage she is not happy with, but she is also suffering from her medical condition. As if she had not suffered enough, she also puts a threat to her own life. We see this when Josephine is knocking on her door while she refuses to open it (Chopin). What is unknown to Josephine however is that her sister is in fact not suffering but savoring the moment. Josephine, who is her sister, is concerned that she may be harming herself and is persistent in her quest to be admitted to the room. The entire story is centered on saving Mrs. Mallard right from the time the breaking of the sad news of her husbands demise had to be done in a way that would not be fatal to her up to the time when her husband returns home and Richard tries to shield her from seeing her husband from the fear that she will suffer an attack due to the huge surprise (Berkove 153). Suffering in Marriage Mrs. Mallard is a woman that is suffering in marriage. We realize that she was not very optimistic about her married life. The night prior to the death of her husband, she had quietly prayed for her life to be short. She had reached a point of disillusionment and would gladly welcome death as an option out of the marriage. When she learns that her husband had perished in the train accident, she first reacts by weeping due to her loss but after the moment of grief ebbs away, she suddenly realizes that she has been freed from her marriage. She makes a prayer that is opposite to what she had made only a few hours prior to this. She now prays for long life long (Chopin). Chopin reveals how Mrs. Mallard was not enjoying her marriage to the point that she was ready to die as a way of getting out of the marriage. This in effect reveals that Mrs. Mallard respected the institution of marriage a lot (Xuemei 168). She dint think that divorce was an option. The only possible way out of the marriage would be through her death. That is why she prays that her life be short. Chopin reveals a view of marriage through the perception of Mrs. Mallard. She thought that marriage was a place where two people thought that they have all the right to impose their rights on the other person. To her, this was a big misconception and as the story reveals, it was probably the main reason for her suffering in marriage. She most definitely did not like the way her husband treated her. Marriage was like a bondage to her and when she receives the news that her husband was dead, she is happy that she is at last free. Mrs. Mallard can be said to represent many marriages in society where many people are not enjoying the marriage but for varied reasons, they dont want to get out of the marriage (Xuemei 168). Louise Mallard is the character in the story that is subject to masculine discourse (Berkove 154). From the very onset of the story, she is introduced as Mrs. Mallard and Chopin simply uses she when referring to her for the rest of the story. In fact, the next time that Chopin uses a name to reference Mrs. Mallard is after she proclaims that she is now free! Body and soul free! This shows the change that happened in the perception o life in Mrs. Mallards mind. She now stretches her hands to welcome the new life of freedom as we see her saying that from now on, she will have no one to live for but herself. As Xuemei (168) observes, the freedom is short lived as we realize when Mr. Mallard comes back. The language used in the story makes it clear by reestablishing the fact that she was a wife. The realization that her freedom was in fact a mirage is too much for her that it proved to be fatal. This further reveals the disillusionment she had as far as her marriage was concerned. The previous day, she had been sad and praying that her life ends soon but when she was told of her husbands death, her mood changed immediately as she suddenly realized that she had a new lease of life. While she is still thinking about her apparent freedom, her husbands returns home something that makes her spirit sink again for reality hits her hard that she is still trapped in her marriage. A Frail Woman Mrs. Mallard is portrayed a frail woman. We see this right form the onset of the story when her medical condition is introduced. However, her frailty is not just of body but also of soul and this is what prompts Richard to try to the best of his ability to protect her. The author uses says that Mrs. Mallard sobs as a child who has cried itself to sleep. The phrase reveals that Mrs. Mallard was a woman of a weak will. She is also described as having very frail hands. It is her frailty that probably led to her eventual death. Mrs. Mallards relationship with her husband serves to explain the kind of shaky relationship that the women of the society had with their husbands. She is quick to reveal that in fact, her husband was a loving man who always looked upon her with love yet quite on the contrary, she seldom felt love for him. Her husband is portrayed as man that imposed on her and she is portrayed as a woman that had little choice but to obey her husbands will. The irony that plays out is that although Brently loved her wife, he gives little or no concern to her happiness Xuemei 167). A Failed Marriage Children are conspicuously absent in the narration which confirms two things: the marriage between Louise and Brently was unfruitful and it also confirms of just how free she would be after the death of her husband. Mrs. Mallard reveals the state of the wives of the 19th century America who had no freedom unless they husbands died first. The absence of children in the marriage is the legacy that she leaves when she dies. In a society that wives were there to attend to their husbands, it is now clear that Brently will have no one to care for him after her death (Xuemei 168). The main reason for the troublesome marriage is not given but the absence of children can be a huge clue. It could be possible that the husband who loved her wife was not at all pleased with the fact that they had not gotten any children. Traditionally, the husbands blame the women for the lack of children even if there was no biological evidence that they were the barren ones. The absence of children presents an interesting dynamic in the story following the death of Mrs. Mallards husband. She was now free to carry on with life as a free woman again. She had no husband to live for and she had no children too. That offered her many new options in life. May be she could now look for a another husband, this time one she loved, or may be she had had enough of marriage and she would leave alone for the rest of her life. A Modest Widow When her Husband supposedly died, Mrs. Mallard has a totally new perception to life. Although the trees outside her window had always been there, for the first time, she realizes just how beautiful the landscape is. She looks at the clouds and they seem to reflect her story so well for she sees patches of the blue sky showing itself here and there after the storm of grief had spent itself. Mrs. Mallard does not receive the news of her husbands death with the characteristic grief that any widow would have (Berkove 158). On the contrary, she cries only for a while and then seats back in the privacy of her room to savor the moment. When she mourns, she is not mourning due to the grief of loosing her husband but due to the overwhelming realization that she has abandoned by her husband. This portrays a selfish nature in her since even when her husband is dead; all she was thinking was how he had abandoned her (Xuemei 169). Mrs. Mallard tries her best to be a modest widow. When she receives the news of the demise of her husband, she responds by weeping profusely in her sisters arms. At the back of her mind however, she is in realization that there was another feeling that was anything but sorrow or grief. She realizes that she was happy that he had died since it guaranteed her victory. However, she pretends that she extremely sorrowful following the demise of her husband. She does not allow the other part to be revealed in the glare of the other people so she chooses to retreat to her bedroom. She is preparing to fulfill her social responsibility as a widow to mourn again when she sees her husbands remains. Mrs. Mallard is however to overjoyed to continue keeping her joy a secret. When she finally usherss her sister in the room, she gets hold of her waist and she walks with the characteristic joy and freedom of a goddess and as the author points out, There was a feverish triumph in her eyes. Even though Mrs. Mallard was well aware that she was required to at least show grief, the unexpected yet very welcome freedom that she gets following the death of her husband overwhelms her with joy to the extent that she can not hide it any more. The narrator shows the irony of life in that Mrs. Mallard was happy that she had eventually found her freedom in the death of her husband but her husband actually returns home safe and sound which terminates her quite celebration. Ironically, the one who was thought to die is back alive while, Mrs. Mallard who believed that she will live long enjoying her new found freedom dies. Mrs. Mallard as a Metaphor When the doctors examine her, they all concur that she had died as result of the joy that kills. It was not normal for a widow to rejoice over her husbands departure. It was expected that his resurrection would make her happy; happy to the point of getting a heart attack. Mrs. Mallard is used to reveal the role of a widow in the society who was expected to grieve after the death of her husband. The entire story is founded on how Mrs. Mallard suffered. She suffered due to a troubled marriage which gave her no joy and she suffered due to the sickness that she had. The kind of suffering that she goes through is used by the author to depict what the woman of that society had to endure in marriages. The narrator reveals her passion on the plight of women in the society when Mrs. Mallard realizes that she is nothing but happy in the marriage. The character of Mrs. Mallard is used to illustrate that men oppressed women in marriage.

Jazz Essay -- essays research papers

Jazz Jazz is a type of music developed by black Americans about 1900 and possessing an identifiable history and describable stylistic evolution. It is rooted in the mingled musical traditions of American blacks. More black musicians saw jazz for the first time a profession. Since its beginnings jazz has branched out into so many styles that no single description fits all of them with total accuracy. Performers of jazz improvise within the conventions of their chosen style. Improvisation gave jazz a personalized, individualized, and distinct feel. Most jazz is based on the principle that an infinite number of melodies can fit the cord progressively of any cord. The twenties were a crucial period in the history of music. Revolutions, whether in arts or matter of state, create a new world only by sacrificing the old. By the late twenties, improvisation had expanded to the extent of improvisation we ordinarily expect from jazz today. It was the roaring twenties that a group of new tonalities entered the mainstream, fixing the sound and the forms of our popular music for the next thirty years. Louie Armstrong closed the book on the dynastic tradition in New Orleans jazz. The first true virtuoso soloist of jazz, Louie Armstrong was a dazzling improviser, technically, emotionally, and intellectually. Armstrong, often called the "father of jazz," always spoke with deference, bordering on awe, of his musical roots, and with especial devotion of his mentor Joe Oliver. He changed the format of jazz by bringing the soloist to the forefront, and in his recording groups, the Hot Five and the Hot seven, demonstrated that jazz improvisation could go far beyond simply ornamenting the melody. Armstrong was one of the first jazz musicians to refine a rhythmic conception that abandoned the stiffness of ragtime, employed swing light-note patterns, and he used a technique called "rhythmic displacement." Rhythmic displacement was sometimes staggering the placement of an entire phrase, as though he were playing behind the beat. He created new melodies based on the chords of the initial tune. He also set standards for all later jazz singers, not only by the way he altered the words and melodies of songs but also by improvising without words... ...ner and the classical pieces of twentieth-century composers Paul Hindemith and Bela Bartok. Latin-American music also inspired Corea^s style. Early in his career, Corea had played in several bands that featured Latin-American music. Corea^s crisp, percussive touch enhances the Latin feeling. It is also consistent with his bright, very spirited style of comping. Like Tyner, Corea voiced chords in fourths. Voicing in fourths means that chords are made up of notes four steps away from each other. Chick Corea joined Miles Davis^ band in 1968, and played electric piano on the landmark In a silent way, album and the influential "Bitches Brew" session. His own trio recording with Miroslav Vitous and Roy Haynes, "Now He sings, Now He sobs," became a staple in the record collection of modern jazz lovers during the late sixties. Corea was a prominent composer during the 1960s and 1970s. Corea wrote pieces that made good use of preset bass lines in accompaniment, particularly those with a Latin-American flavor. In 1985, Chick Corea formed the Elektric Band, which became known for its use of synthesizers. The band^s debut was with Chick Corea Eleckric Band, on GRP Records.

Functions of Human Resource Department Essay -- Employment Employee De

Functions of Human Resource Department One of the main functions of Human Resource Department is training and development beside recruitment, selection and placement. It isn’t enough to recruit employees into the skills or knowledge they currently posses, but rather for their ability to learn and adapt through training as conditions change or business needs. Employees are very important resources where some organizations assign huge budget to train them. However, this budget is taken out when organizations have financial problems. Here comes HR role to lighten top management that Training and Developing strategy is a vital investment to show commitment and ensure competency of employees’. Pfeffer references growing evidence that the loss of skills and increased use of contract employees have hurt productivity and even safety in organizations and industry (1998, P172). In this report we’ll talk about Training and Developing policy in UAE based company known as Tawteen. We’ll examine the effectiveness of this policy, describe its operation, show the policy outcomes and review the employees’ feedback on the policy. Before we go ahead with our analysis we should look at the policy in other regions rather than UAE. Also we’ll summarize an overview of our company and its internal operations to have a complete picture. Outside UAE: In USA we have â€Å"open career systems where individuals are given considerable freedom to manage their own careers. In such settings we find a chance to bid on jobs and training opportunities† (Towers 1996, p. 31) . However, Japanese companies operating in USA and UK â€Å"Job Training is typically provided internally, though at least in the early stages of operations there has been a tendency to buy-in managerial talent† (Towers 1996, p. 55). On the other hand, In European companies there is an â€Å"increase in training at all levels†. â€Å"Training and development is increasingly seen as a critical part of an organization’s HR strategy† (Towers 1996, p. 83). For example, in UK it is estimated that business spends 16 billion on training and developing their employees each year (Rana, 2000a). In UAE where business is growing very fast and we have huge number of skilful expatriates’ workers. Excluding enterprise companies, medium and small size companies don’t have training and development strategy. As ... ...ged and developed at work has major effects upon quality, customer service, organizational flexibility and costs’. By providing a framework for training and developing employees, Tawteen as a training and recruitment is contributing in the Emiratisation strategy by training UAE Nationals and maintaining the quality of training. References Bown B. 2000, Recognizing and Rewarding Employees, McGraw-Hill, New York. Harrison R. 1992, Employee Development, IPD, London. Laila Murad, HR Officer in Tawteen, Dubai, 2005 Marchington M. & Wilkinson A. 2003, 2nd Edition, People Management and Development. , Chartered Institute of Personal and Development (CIPD House), London. Pfeffer J, 1998, The Human Equation: Building Profits by Putting People First, Harvard Business School, Boston. Rana E. 2000, ‘IIP revamp aims to cut back on bureaucracy’, People Management, 13th April 2000, P14. Saif Sultan, System trainer in Tawteen, Dubai, 2005 Sanders D. 2000, ‘The Pros and Cons of Computer based learning’, Employee Development Bulletin 123, March 2000, P6-8. Towers B. 1996, 2nd Edition, The Handbook of Human Resource Management, Blackwell Business, Oxford.

Comparison of Dulce et Decorum Est and Charge of the Light Brigade Essa

Comparison of Dulce et Decorum Est and Charge of the Light Brigade Compare and contrast the two poems Dulce et Decorum Est (Owen) with Charge of the Light Brigade (Tennyson), paying particular attention to the writers’ attitude to war. The attitudes of poets towards war have always been expressed vigorously in their poetry, each poet either condoning or condemning war, and mitigating their attitudes in whatever way possible. I aim to explore the change in the portrayal of war before and during the twentieth century, and also the structures and devices poets use to convey their views persuasively, and justify them. For this job I have chosen to write about â€Å"Charge of the Light Brigade† written by the poet Alfred Lord Tennyson and â€Å"Dulce et Decorum est† by the poet Wilfred Owen. These two poems describe war, and scenes from war, with varying levels of intensity and reality and also from different viewpoints. Written during the Crimean War Tennyson’s â€Å"Charge of the Light Brigade† mirrors the sentiments expressed in the Battle of Balaclava. This event took place in 1854 and is still remembered as one of the most famous triumphs in British history. The truth is that Lord Raglan suicidally led his troops " Into the valley of Death ", where they were massacred. Lord Tennyson was the poet Laureate at the time of the Crimean war, but did not witness any fighting and was not involved in it but his clever and effective use of literary devices in his poem ensure that this military fiasco was remembered as a glorious victory. Tennyson puts across a message to remember, respect and honour the soldiers for what they have given up their lives to do for their country. â€Å"Dulce et Decorum est† however, was writt... ... suggesting that the writers of glorious war poems have even lied to the young people, and sent them to the front line to die in their millions, in awful conditions and distressing situations. Having explored both poems, I feel that the one which brings about the biggest response from me is â€Å"Dulce et Decorum est†. This is because of the striking graphic imagery he uses, the way he describes the effects of the war on him, and also because of the way he directs the poem at the reader personally, using phrases such as â€Å"you† and â€Å"my friend†. In my opinion, â€Å"The Charge of the Light Brigade† does not have the impact and the realism to convey the opinions contained in it effectively and forcefully. I feel is a more imaginative, outlook on war than Wilfred Owen’s graphic poem. The thing I did like about Tennyson’s poem was the excitement and passion and pace.

Emperor’s Club Plot

William Hundert (Kevin Kline) is a passionate Classics professor enthusiastic about the start of the school year. His class turns out to be a strict yet inspiring lesson for the new students arriving at St. Benedict's Academy. They include laid-back Louis Masoudi (Jesse Eisenberg), the introverted Martin Blythe (Paul Dano), and the studious Deepak Mehta (Rishi Mehta), all highly intelligent. Hundert inspires his students to study hard in order to become one of the three contestants for The Emperor's Club and be crowned â€Å"Mr.Julius Caesar,† a competition which puts the top three students of his class in a contest where they will be asked questions regarding the Classics. When the headmaster (Edward Hermann) explains the contest to the students, he mentions that Martin's father was once a â€Å"Mr. Julius Caesar. † Hundert quickly gains the respect of his class and the school year gets off to an orderly start. However, Hundert's tightly controlled world is shaken when a new student, Sedgewick Bell (Emile Hirsch), walks into his classroom. Bell is the cocky son of a senior U.S. Senator who possesses none of Hundert's principles. A fierce battle of wills begins between Hundert and Bell. Bell's rebellious nature quickly makes him the interest of the class, as he not only is willing to talk back against Hundert, he also freely shares pornographic material and is willing to play hooky and travel off-limits to a nearby prep school for girls. Despite Blythe's constant pleas not to break the rules, Masoudi and even studious Mehta find themselves enjoying their rebellious tendencies with Bell.Hundert humiliates Bell when he asks the class to list, in chronological order, all the Roman emperors. The other students comply in perfect unison, effectively embarrassing Bell, who has not studied the course material. Hundert also makes a trip to Washington D. C. to meet with Senator Bell from West Virginia. Bell's father is clearly uninterested in his son's char acter development while at St. Benedict's, instead telling Hundert just to teach Bell lessons so he can graduate, giving Hundert some insight into the younger Bell's upbringing.Hundert returns to St. Benedict's, where in a phone call, Senator Bell chews out Sedgewick for wasting his time in having to see Hundert and his money on the tuition. (But he does not yell at his son for being a slacker. ) After seeing a chastised Sedgewick, Hundert tries to develop a closer student-teacher relationship and become a mentor to Bell in order to help change him into a better man. Bell starts studying, proving to be a bright student, and his grades improve enormously. Bell finishes in the top three in Hundert's competition that precedes the Mr.Julius Ceasar contest, along with classmates Masoudi and Mehta. Bell had actually earned fourth place until Hundert privately decided to raise his grade on the final essay after reviewing it again, thus moving him above Blythe, the third place winner, whose father before him had been an Mr. Julius Ceasar winner, putting him under much pressure to live up to his father's reputation. Hundert is caught between celebrating Bell's newfound success and feeling guilty when he sees a despondent Blythe sitting all by himself under a tree.The entire school watches the competition as the three contestants are quizzed by Hundert. After many questions, the confident Masoudi is the first to make a mistake and he is thus eliminated. Hundert becomes increasingly suspicious of Bell raising his toga to his head to think. When Hundert takes a recess to confer with the headmaster; he is urged to give Bell a pass, as Senator Bell is in attendance. But he then asks Bell a question not in the books, â€Å"Who was Hamilcar Barca? , knowing full well that the answer would not be on any materials used to cheat (it was not in the curriculum) but knowing that Mehta would be able to answer it because earlier in the year, Hundert had seen him reading material abo ut Barca in his spare time. Bell is stumped and Mehta is crowned Mister Julius Caesar. Afterwards, Bell admits to Hundert having cheated by placing crib notes on the inside of his toga sleeve. Bell could not take the pressure of losing, and like his father, tried everything he could to guarantee a win. Although Hundert does not publicize this, the trust he once had with Bell is broken.Students move up to higher grades before their graduation from St. Benedict's Academy, and Bell shown reverting to his lax behavior and loss of interest in academia. In the year 1976, Bell is shown barely squeaking by in his classes, gaining acceptance to Yale University only on account of being Senator Bell's son. Hundert regrets not being able to influence Bell more. Twenty-five years later, Hundert is denied his bid to become headmaster of the school by the board, who feel he lacks the ability to drum up financial donations for the school. Hundert immediately resigns.Later he receives an invitation for a class reunion and a chance to meet up with his students at an event (surprisingly) staged by a full-grown Bell (Joel Gretsch), who is now extremely rich and successful. Once reunited with his students, he is impressed that every one of his students from that fateful class had done well since their days at St. Bendict's and all had successful careers in business, with Deepak Mehta now a professor himself. It is also revealed that Sedgewick Bell agreed to donate an additional 25,000 square foot addition to the St.Benedict library under the condition that a â€Å"Mr. Julius Caesar† rematch is held with alumni Masoudi and Mehta, Hundert presiding. This donation would be ironic, seeing that Hundert was denied becoming headmaster due to lack of fundraising abilities (so the board had deemed) and yet he would be the linchpin responsible for providing the largest donation to the school to date. Before the match Bell talks to Hundert about how his influence had really changed hi s life and he hopes that he would be able to regain his dignity in the rematch.An enthusiastic Hundert agrees to host once again. And so the Emperor's Club contest is again played, albeit the crowd being Bell's schoolfriends and their respective wives and children, and the three contestants still wearing togas, but with tuxedos. Masoudi answers the first question wrong, then tries for fun to guess the right answer in spite, humoring the crowd with fake Roman names such as â€Å"Gassius Flatulus. † Again, the main competition is between Mehta (Rahul Khanna) and Bell as both still remember (or kept up diligent study of) their lessons from Hundert's class.Sadly, despite Hundert's belief that Bell has changed, he is able to perceive that Bell is cheating, this time through a hired graduate student feeding him answers through a clandestine earpiece. Hundert poses another unofficial question, this one regarding the plaque over his door, asking â€Å"Who was Shutruk-Nakhunte† ? Despite supportive shouts from his classmates that this one is easy and they all know this one, Bell again does not know the answer due to him being a late arrival to Saint Benedict's and not being told about the leader at Mr.Hundert's first class (or ever taking the time to look around the classroom to study the plaque). Furthermore, any information about Shutruk-Nakhunte cannot be found in any textbook, which had been a point Hundert had made in his class way back when, explaining that without contribution to society, one is insignificant. Therefore, the hired grad student cannot feed Bell the correct answer, because he can't find it. Mehta is crowned Mr. Julius Caesar once again. After the competition ends and Bell congratulates Mehta for defending his title, Bell announces that he will be running for a seat in the U.S. Senate just like his father, stressing taxpayer funding of education. Hundert finally sees that Bell only used the event to drum up support for his campaign and to get contributions from his old classmates. Hundert, as well as Blythe, based on a look of humorous utter shock on his face, can scarcely believe it. Hundert and Bell run into each other in the bathroom, where Hundert confronts Bell about his immorality. Bell coldly goes on to tell Hundert that Hundert has no accomplishments in life, whereas he will become a nationally famous senator no matter what the cost.Bell also says it does not matter that he cheated, as life is full of cheaters. Just then, Bell's son, who had admired his father up to this point for his sound character, comes out of a stall with a pained expression on his face, and Bell is left to face his son and rationalize his Machiavellian ways. Hundert believes that Bell will become just like his father was; too wrapped up in his political life to devote attention to his family and properly raise his son. Hundert, realizing again that he has failed Bell, now recognizes the importance of letting Blythe know that he had given away Blythe's seat in the original â€Å"Mr.Julius Caesar† contest. He confesses his action from a quarter century ago to Blythe, who attempts to be mature about this revelation but then excuses himself, his mannerisms strongly suggesting he did not appreciate having old wounds reopened. Hundert, feeling he has failed two students, contemplates his legacy as a teacher. Hundert wakes up the next morning and goes to the dining room expecting one last breakfast with his pupils. Instead, he finds an empty room and is told that they have all left already.Hundert dejectedly returns to his room, only to discover that the men had thrown him a surprise party. All his students are at the party, except Bell, who is seen talking with reporters, beginning his political campaign. Nonetheless, the meeting is a joyous event as Hundert and his students talk about how much he has influenced them and how they are grateful that he was their teacher. Mehta gives Hundert a gift â€Å"from o ne teacher to another,† which is an inscribed plaque quoting the value of mentoring.Hundert finally comes to the realization that while he failed to turn Bell into a better man, he still has helped make many of his pupils into better men, and he realizes that his value is not based upon one failure or one success. He accepts the offer that he is always welcome for reinstatement at Saint Benedict's, going back to his old job as a teacher. Hundert thus returns to St. Benedict's Academy and again teaches Classics to a new class (which is now coeducational). It is also revealed that one of his students is Blythe's son, who is proud that his father was once Hundert's student.Hundert then asks Blythe's son to read the plaque over his door, just as young Blythe did at the beginning of the film. Hundert then looks out the window to see Martin Blythe proudly waving to him, and an expression that Hundert has found peace with his past troubles and gladness that he has been truthful with Blythe. It's also noticed that young Blythe reads the plaque without stumbling over the difficult words, while his father as a young boy had had trouble reading it, showing that young Blythe's father had taught his son what Hundert had taught him. Reference: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/The_Emperor's_Club

Mens Rea

2 The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea Introduction The traditional starting point for the study of criminal law is the constituents of a criminal offence: actus reus (often referred to as the prohibited conduct, but more accurately described as the external elements of the offence) and mens rea (often referred to as the mental element, but more accurately described as the fault element). Commentators and students alike want to ? d consistency and certainty in the application and development of the criminal law, and most criminal law textbooks dealing with the elements of crimes try to state principles that the student should see consistently applied in later chapters covering speci? c offences. The main problem is that the offences have developed in a piecemeal fashion, exhibiting no underlying rationale or common approach. Thus in examining actus reus, the student might be covering an offence de? ned in modern terms, e. g. , by the Criminal Damage Act 1971, or in obscur e outdated language, e. . , in the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, or the de? nition of actus reus may arise from the common law, perhaps amended or augmented by statute, e. g. , murder. Similarly, when we examine our approach to mens rea, we can see little common ground. If the offence requires the prosecution to prove intention, this must generally be left to the jury without detailed guidance from the trial judge (R v Moloney [1985] 1 All ER 1025); but if recklessness is the issue, a direction spelling out to the jury what they must ? d may be required. If one looks at the development of the concept of recklessness one can see that, prior to the decision of the House of Lords in R v G [2003] 4 All ER 765, a case involving criminal damage would have involved a court in trying to assess whether the defendant was reckless according to the de? nition laid down in Metropolitan Police Commissioner v Caldwell [1981] 1 All ER 961. Following the abandonment of ‘Caldwell reckle ssness’ in R v G [2003] 4 All ER 765, the issue has been simpli? d so that a court now has to concentrate on whether or not the defendant was aware of the risk in question and if so, whether or not, in the circumstances known to the defendant, it was unreasonable for him to take the risk. The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea 9 If dishonesty is the mens rea (see Theft Acts 1968–1996) the jury must consider two speci? c questions (would ordinary people consider D dishonest? ; if so, did D realize that they would? ); but these are questions of fact for them to resolve (R v Ghosh [1982] 2 All ER 689).In other words, there are three different approaches in establishing the mens rea for different offences. A search for consistency is therefore a futile exercise! Students should therefore be aware that studying the chapters on actus reus and mens rea can produce a distorted impression of the criminal law. One is dealing with concepts in isolation and could form th e impression that these general principles are consistently applied. One particular criticism is that the criminal law is not consistent in applying objective or subjective tests for liability. Objective tests consider what the reasonable person would have foreseen.Subjective tests judge the defendant on the facts as he honestly believed them to be. There appears to be an absence of any underlying rationale and the offences develop independently of each other. One can understand why Sir Henry Brooke (former head of the Law Commission) and many others wish for codi? cation of some, if not all, of the criminal law (see [1995] Crim LR 911—‘The Law Commission and Criminal Law Reform’). Even established concepts that have been applied by the courts for many years, may suddenly come under attack and be interpreted differently by the judiciary.Thus the House of Lords in Attorney-General’s Reference (No. 3 of 1994) [1997] 3 All ER 936, reversed the Court of Appeal decision ([1996] 2 WLR 412), holding that the doctrine of transferred malice could not apply to convict an accused of murder when he deliberately injured a pregnant woman in circumstances where the baby was born alive but subsequently died. Lord Mustill criticized the doctrine as having no sound intellectual basis and involving a ? ction, although the Criminal Law Review disagrees with his view ([1997] Crim LR 830).In this chapter questions have been chosen to cover all major aspects of this area. There are some problem questions, but candidates should expect the essay questions in an exam to be selected from these topics. Essays are therefore included on the important aspects of mens rea: intention and recklessness. Question 1 The practice of leaving the issue of intention to the jury without any judicial guidance as to its meaning is unworkable and likely to produce inconsistent decisions. Discuss this statement with reference to decided cases. CommentaryThere have been so many i mportant decisions on this important aspect of criminal law, that it is always likely to be the subject of an examination question. 10 The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea Because the facts of R v Moloney [1985] 1 All ER 1025 are so well known, there is a temptation simply to regurgitate them with the House of Lords’ decisions. This must be resisted as there are many ingredients in the answer, which requires careful planning and organization. In summary, this is a question where it is quite easy to obtain a pass mark but dif? cult to obtain a high grade. Answer plan Mens rea †¢ Intention—de? nition †¢ Moloney [1985]—‘the golden rule’ †¢ Woollin [1998]—direction on intention †¢ Law Commission No. 218 Suggested answer Except with strict (or absolute) liability offences, in order for an accused to be found guilty of a criminal offence, the prosecution must prove that the accused committed the actus reus of the off ence with the appropriate mens rea. Mens rea generally signi? es blameworthiness, although in R v Kingston [1994] 3 All ER 353, the House of Lords con? rmed that the accused was guilty of an offence requiring the prosecution to prove intention, although he was morally blameless.Mens rea is the mental element, which varies from one offence to another; but generally, for the more serious offences, it comprises intention or recklessness, with intention being reserved for the most serious crimes. One would therefore think that, being of such fundamental importance, intention would be speci? cally de? ned and rigidly applied, but this is not the case. There have always been dif? culties with the concept of intention within the criminal law. What is it? How should it be de? ned? How do the prosecution prove it? How does the trial judge direct the jury?These issues have been the subject of much judicial and academic debate in recent years. Although the word ‘intention’ implies purpose or even desire, there have been many diverse de? nitions by the judiciary, and commentators have also identi? ed different types of intention. First, direct intent, where it was the accused’s purpose or motive to bring about a result. Thus in R v Steane [1947] 1 All ER 813, the accused, who assisted the enemy during the war, had his conviction quashed as the court decided that he did not intend to assist the enemy; he intended to protect his family, who would have been harmed had he not cooperated.Secondly, oblique intent, where the accused does not necessarily desire the result but foresees it as highly probable. Thus in Hyam v DPP [1974] 2 All ER 41, the House of Lords upheld a conviction for murder where the The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea 11 accused had set ? re to the victim’s house even though the accused’s purpose had been only to frighten the victim. Because there was evidence that the accused foresaw that death or grievous bodi ly harm was highly probable the House of Lords felt justi? d in concluding that her state of mind could be regarded as a form of intent (on this matter the law is now as set out in R v Woollin [1998] 4 All ER 103—see below). Thirdly, ulterior intent, where it must be shown that in intentionally doing one act the accused has a related purpose. Thus to be guilty of burglary under s. 9(1)(a) of the Theft Act 1968, it is necessary for the prosecution to prove that the accused, when deliberately entering a building as a trespasser, did so with a speci? c related purpose in mind, e. g. , to steal or commit criminal damage. It would not be suf? ient if the accused intentionally broke into the house with the sole purpose of sheltering from the weather. The terms speci? c and basic intent, are also used in respect of the defence of intoxication to distinguish between those offences where intoxication is permitted as a defence and those where it is not (see further DPP v Majewski [1976 ] 2 All ER 142). Although there is an overlap between intention on the one hand and motive and foresight on the other, and these latter concepts assist the jury in their deliberations on intention, it is clear that the concepts are not synonymous.Motive is the reason why a person acts, while intention is his or her mental awareness at the time of the act. Foresight can be evidence of intention, but it is not conclusive proof of it. Section 8 of the Criminal Justice Act 1967 states that a court shall not be bound in law to infer that the accused intended or foresaw a result of his actions by reason only of its being a natural and probable consequence of those actions, but ‘shall decide whether he did intend or foresee that result by reference to all the evidence, drawing such inferences from the evidence as appear proper in the circumstances’.The issue of intention was debated by the House of Lords in R v Moloney [1985] 1 All ER 1025 and R v Hancock and Shankland [1986] 1 All ER 641. In the former case, Moloney shot his stepfather from point blank range and was convicted of murder after the trial judge (following Archbold Criminal Pleading Evidence and Practice, 40th edn, para. 17–13, p. 995) directed the jury that: In law a man intends the consequence of his voluntary act: (a) when he desires it to happen, whether or not he foresees that it probably will happen, or (b) when he foresees that it will probably happen, whether he desires it or not.The House of Lords quashed the conviction on the basis that this was a misdirection, Lord Bridge stating that: the golden rule should be that, when directing a jury on the mental element necessary in a crime of speci? c intent (i. e. , intention), the judge should avoid any elaboration or paraphrase of what is meant by intent, and leave it to the jury’s good sense to decide whether the accused acted with the necessary intent, unless the judge is convinced that, on the facts and having regard to the way the case has been presented to the jury in evidence and 2 The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea argument, some further explanation or elaboration is strictly necessary to avoid misunderstanding. Although the decision may be criticized on the ground that their Lordships missed a golden opportunity to de? ne intention, it is in keeping with the modern trend of leaving more and more issues to the jury, especially the meaning of words in common use. For example, Brutus v Cozens [1972] 2 All ER 1297 (insulting); R v Feely [1973] 1 All ER 341 (dishonestly).This decision was followed by the House of Lords’ ruling in R v Hancock and Shankland, where Lord Scarman also made the point that if intention required a detailed direction it was best to leave this to the discretion of the trial judge who would have had the bene? t of hearing all the witnesses and gauging the ability of the jury. He added that the trial judge could not do as Lord Bridge suggested and simply direct the jury to consider two questions: ? st, was death or really serious injury in a murder case a natural consequence of the defendant’s voluntary act? ; secondly, did the defendant foresee that consequence as being a natural consequence of his act? —further instructing them that if they answer ‘Yes’ to both questions it is a proper inference for them to draw that the accused intended that consequence. Lord Scarman stated that the trial judge must refer to the concept of probability—the more probable the consequence, the more likely the accused foresaw it and intended it.Despite clear House of Lords’ dicta to the contrary, the Court of Appeal in R v Nedrick [1986] 3 All ER 1 did lay down some guidelines to the effect that the jury should not infer intention unless they considered that the accused foresaw the consequence as a virtual certainty. However, this decision has attracted criticism, and the Court of Appeal in R v Walker and Hayle s [1989] 90 Cr App R 226 stated ‘we are not persuaded that it is only when death is a virtual certainty that the jury can infer intention to kill’. Nevertheless, the status of Nedrick was con? med by the House of Lords’ discussion in R v Woollin [1998] 4 All ER 103. The House, stating that where the simple direction was not enough, the jury should be further directed that they were not entitled to ? nd the necessary intention unless they felt sure that death or serious bodily harm was a virtually certain result of D’s action (barring some unforeseen intervention) and, that D had appreciated that fact. This decision also illustrates one of the dif? culties of the present approach, i. e. , when is the issue of intention so complicated as to warrant a detailed direction?In R v Walker and Hayles, the Court of Appeal decided that ‘the mere fact that a jury calls for a further direction on intention does not of itself make it a rare and exceptional case re quiring a foresight direction’. On the other hand, in R v Hancock and Shankland, the House of Lords con? rmed that the trial judge was right to give a detailed direction, even though the content of the direction was wrong. A further problem is that different juries may have different ideas as to what constitutes intention, some insisting on purpose being necessary, while others are prepared to accept that only foresight of a probable consequence is required.There is clearly the The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea 13 risk of inconsistent decisions and it is therefore not surprising that the Law Commission (Nos 122 and 218) have recommended that the following standard de? nition of intention be adopted: a person acts intentionally with respect to a result when (i) it is his purpose to cause it; or (ii) although it is not his purpose to cause that result, he knows that it would occur in the ordinary course of events if he were to succeed in his purpose of causing so me other result. Question 2 ‘Mens rea is, by de? nition, the defendant’s state of mind. Discuss the accuracy of this statement using case law to support your argument. Commentary This question requires examination of some of the assumptions made about mens rea and the current trends in judicial thinking. Candidates would be expected to consider the main forms of mens rea and the extent to which courts are required to take an objective or subjective view of fault. Although ‘Caldwell recklessness’ has now been effectively consigned to legal history (for the time being at least) a good answer will need to show an awareness of that decision and its impact on the mens rea debate.Consideration also needs to be given to the issue of mistake and its relationship with mens rea. Finally, the answer should encompass some consideration of negligence as a form of mens rea and the extent to which its use accords with notions of subjective fault. Answer plan †¢ The n ature of mens rea †¢ Intention—R v Woollin— House of Lords’ decision †¢ The recklessness debate R v G [2003]—abandoning Caldwell †¢ The treatment of mistake and its effect on mens rea—DPP v Morgan [1976] †¢ Killing by gross negligence—whether objective or subjective 4 The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea Suggested answer Although mens rea translates literally as ‘guilty mind’, relying on this as the meaning given to that term in modern criminal law is likely to lead to error. This is because a defendant may be found to have mens rea even though he himself has not acted with the intention of committing an offence, or even with the awareness that this might be the result. The better approach is to regard mens rea as denoting the fault element that the prosecution has to prove.In the majority of cases this will involve proof of some positive state of mind on the part of the accused, but in other case s it may be enough to show that the accused failed to advert to something that would have been obvious to the reasonable person. The two most important fault elements used in modern criminal law are intention and recklessness. It can now be said that, as far as these two forms of mens rea are concerned, liability cannot be established without evidence as to what the defendant foresaw when he committed the acts causing the prohibited results.Exactly what it is that the defendant has to have foreseen, and how much foresight he must be shown to have had, are questions that go to the core of the debate relating to where the dividing line between different types of subjective mens rea should be drawn. The modern de? nition of intention can be derived from a number of House of Lords’ decisions, notably R v Moloney [1985] 1 All ER 1025 and R v Woollin [1998] 4 All ER 103. A defendant cannot be guilty of murder unless he is proved to have acted with intent to kill or do grievous bodi ly harm.Where a direction on intent is deemed necessary, a jury should be instructed that they should consider the extent to which the defendant foresaw death or grievous bodily harm resulting from his actions. Only where there is evidence that he foresaw either consequence as virtually certain would it be safe for a jury to conclude that a defendant therefore intended either of those consequences. The key here is foresight. Section 8 of the Criminal Justice Act 1967 makes clear that foresight is a subjective concept—i. e. it is based on what the defendant actually foresaw— not on what he ought to have foreseen, or indeed what the reasonable person would have foreseen had he been in the defendant’s shoes. Taken together, the de? nition of foresight in the 1967 Act, and the House of Lords’ ruling in Woollin ensure that where intention is the required mens rea, there can be no doubt that it will be based on the defendant’s state of mind—i. e. , a subjective approach will be adopted. The rationale for this is fairly obvious—it is hard to describe a defendant as having intended a consequence if there is no evidence of it having occurred to him.Even where there is such evidence, if the possibility of the consequence occurring has only ? eetingly crossed his mind it would still be absurd to say he intended it. The law, therefore, requires a very high degree of foresight before a defendant’s state of mind is labelled as having been intentional. Recklessness, by contrast, implies risk taking, as opposed to the defendant foreseeing a consequence as a certainty. Here there has been great controversy over the past few The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea 15 decades as to the right approach to the determination of fault.The traditional approach to recklessness as a form of mens rea very much re? ected the view that mens rea had to be based on the defendant’s state of mind. In R v Cunningham [1957] 2 All ER 412, the Court of Appeal held that a defendant was reckless only if he took an unjusti? able risk and was at least aware of the risk materializing. The key point about this approach to recklessness was that there would be no liability if the risk never occurred to the defendant. Subsequently, during the 1980s a contrary view held sway, following the House of Lords’ decision in Metropolitan Police Commissioner v Caldwell [1981] 1 All ER 961.D’s conviction for criminal damage being reckless as to whether life would be endangered, contrary to s. 1(1) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971, was upheld on the basis that he had created an obvious risk that property would be destroyed or damaged; and had either given no thought to the possibility of there being any such risk, or had recognized that there was some risk involved and had nevertheless gone on to do it. The ‘not thinking’ formulation of recklessness here, clearly envisaged liability being imposed ev en though the risk in question had not occurred to the defendant.Whilst this might have been a desirable policy goal—it made it easier for the prosecution to secure convictions—it threw up many dif? cult issues. First, what of the defendant who did not think of the risk because it would not have occurred to him even if he had stopped to think? In Elliot v C (A Minor) [1983] 2 All ER 1005, a 14-year-old schoolgirl of low intelligence, who was tired and hungry, spilt some in? ammable spirit and then dropped a lighted match on the wooden ? oor of a garden shed. She was charged under s. 1(1) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971.It was argued that she did not foresee the risk of ? re, nor would she had she addressed her mind to the possible consequences of her action. Although Goff LJ stated that a test for recklessness which allowed the court to take into account the individual characteristics of the accused had much merit (a subjective approach), he felt bound by the doctrine of precedent (at that time) to follow Caldwell, and therefore concluded that the defendant should have convicted on the objective test basis, i. e. , whether the risk would have been obvious to a reasonable man.Secondly, there was the argument that ‘Caldwell recklessness’ was not acceptable as a form of mens rea because it was not based on the defendant’s state of mind. In R v Reid [1992] 3 All ER 673, Lord Keith observed by way of response that: ‘Absence of something from a person’s state of mind is as much part of his state of mind as is its presence. Inadvertence to risk is no less a subjective state of mind than is disregard of a recognised risk. ’ What he meant by this was that even with ‘Caldwell recklessness’, the court had to consider the defendant’s state of mind.But, it is submitted, this is a piece of judicial sophistry, as all that was required was for the court to examine the defendant’s state of mind an d, on ? nding ‘no thought’, conclude that he had been reckless provided the risk would have been obvious to the reasonable prudent bystander. Whilst many might have applauded Lord Diplock’s efforts to penalize thoughtlessness in terms of a social policy initiative, the real question was whether he was right to 16 The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea ursue this via a radical judicial reinterpretation of the term ‘recklessness’. It is signi? cant that Parliament intervened shortly after Caldwell to reform the offence of reckless driving (and therefore causing death by reckless driving) by replacing it with the offence of dangerous driving—see the Road Traf? c Act 1991. The effect of this was to make clear that the offence could now be committed without any form of mens rea that required reference to the defendant’s state of mind. Recklessness was replaced, as a fault element, by the term ‘dangerous’.Whilst it coul d and was argued that recklessness implied some conscious risk-taking by the accused, there was no doubt that ‘dangerousness’ as a fault element rested entirely upon an objective assessment of the defendant’s conduct. In other words a defendant could drive dangerously because he had a badly secured load on the back of his trailer—there was no need for him to be aware of this. In summary this suggests that Parliament liked the idea of criminal liability based on failure to think about risk, but was not comfortable with the idea that ‘traditional’ mens rea terms like ‘recklessness’ might be used to describe it.As far as recklessness is concerned the subjectivist argument has found favour again, as evidenced by the House of Lords’ decision in R v G [2003] 4 All ER 765, where it was held that a defendant could not be properly convicted under s. 1 of the Criminal Damage Act 1971 on the basis that he was reckless as to whether pr operty was destroyed or damaged when he gave no thought to the risk and, by reason of his age and/or personal characteristics, the risk would not have been obvious to him, even if he had thought about it.Lord Bingham observed that recklessness should at least require a knowing disregard of an appreciated and unacceptable risk of, or a deliberate closing of the mind to, such risk. In his view it was not clearly blameworthy to do something involving a risk of injury to another if one genuinely did not perceive the risk. R v G re? ects a general judicial trend in favour of subjectivity, as evidenced in decisions such as B v DPP [2000] 1 All ER 833.Indeed, the high watermark of this approach to fault was the House of Lords’ decision in DPP v Morgan [1976] AC 182, where it was held that if a defendant made a genuine mistake of fact—such as wrongly believing that a woman was consenting to sexual intercourse, he had to be judged on the facts as he believed them to be, not as the reasonable person would have believed them to be. Lord Hailsham made it clear that there was no room either for a ‘defence’ of honest belief or mistake, or of a defence of honest and reasonable belief or mistake.The reasonableness of the defendant’s honest belief was simply a factor relating to its credibility. The mental element in the offence of rape has now been modi? ed by the Sexual Offences Act 2003, so that rape is effectively now an offence with a fault element based on negligence. The rationale of DPP v Morgan survives, however, at common law to the extent that a defendant should normally be judged on the facts as he honestly believes them to be. As has been noted above in the case of dangerous driving, fault elements that do not require reference to the defendant’s state of mind are used.At common law this can be seen in the offence of killing by gross negligence. In R v Adomako [1994] 3 WLR 288, Lord Mackay LC explained that liability would be established if the prosecution could prove that the defendant’s conduct departed from the proper standard of care incumbent The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea 17 upon him, thereby creating a risk of death, and involved such a departure from acceptable standards of care as to deserve the stigma of criminalization.As was made clear in Attorney-General’s Reference (No. 2 of 1999) [2000] 3 All ER 182, evidence of the defendant’s state of mind might be useful in guiding a jury as to whether or not the negligence was gross, but this fault element can be made out without any direct evidence as to the defendant’s state of mind. Whilst this may seem to run counter to the trend in favour of subjectivity it should be remembered that it serves a useful social purpose in making it easier to impose criminal liability on companies that kill.In summary, therefore, it is undoubtedly true to say that mens rea normally does involve an examination of the def endant’s state of mind to ascertain a degree of awareness of the consequences of his actions. The law will, however, allow departures from this where the social utility of doing so outweighs the need to ensure the fairness to the defendant that ensues from adopting a subjective approach to fault. Question 3 You are told that the (? titious) Ancient Book Act 2009 has just received the Royal Assent and that s. 1 provides, ‘It shall be an offence to destroy any book printed before 1800’. Discuss the criminal liability of each party (in relation to the 2009 Act) in the following situation. Arthur owns 200 books, which he thinks are worthless. He is concerned in case any of the books were printed before 1800 and consults Ben, an expert on old books, who assures him that all the books were printed long after 1800.Arthur destroys the books and is now horri? ed to discover that three of them were printed in 1750. Commentary This is an unusual question which has caused st udents dif? culties, with many writing about the offence of criminal damage. This is a mistake as the question requires a detailed analysis of the mens rea requirement of the Ancient Book Act 2009, and in particular analysis of the concept of strict liability. In a survey by Justice referred to in an article by A. Ashworth and M.Blake, ‘The Presumption of Innocence in English Criminal Law’ [1996] Crim LR 306, it is estimated that in over one half of criminal offences either strict liability is imposed, or the prosecution have the bene? t of a presumption. It is obviously an important topic, and popular with examiners! A good answer will require a detailed consideration of the possibility of this offence being one of strict liability and the effect of this. Candidates should also consider the position if the courts decide that intention or recklessness is the appropriate mental state. 8 The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea Answer plan †¢ Strict liability —Sweet v Parsley [1969] †¢ Presumption of mens rea—B v DPP [2000] †¢ The exceptions †¢ Recklessness †¢ Mistake—Morgan [1976] †¢ Ben’s liability under the Serious Crime Act 2007 Suggested answer The ? rst point to note is that s. 1 of the Ancient Book Act 2009 is silent as to the mens rea requirement of the offence. This could mean that the offence is one of absolute liability (i. e. , strict liability in the sense that no mens rea whatsoever is required).Alternatively it could be a strict liability offence in the sense that intention, recklessness or negligence is only required as regards one or more elements of the actus reus. The imposition of absolute liability may be very harsh on the defendant. For example, in Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v Storkwain [1986] 2 All ER 635, the House of Lords upheld the conviction of a pharmacist who had given drugs to a patient with a forged doctor’s prescription, although the court found the pharmacist blameless.Whilst the decision demonstrates the inherent unfairness of strict liability, it can be justi? ed on the basis that the misuse of drugs is a grave social evil and therefore should be prevented at all costs. The ? rst case of statutory strict liability was R v Woodrow (1846) 15 M & W 404, where the accused was found guilty of being in possession of adulterated tobacco, even though he did not know that it was adulterated. Many early decisions revealed an inconsistent approach as the courts were trying to interpret old statutes in ascertaining the will of Parliament.However, Lord Reid in the House of Lords’ decision in Sweet v Parsley [1969] 1 All ER 347 laid down the following guidelines: (a) Wherever a section is silent as to mens rea there is a presumption that, in order to give effect to the will of Parliament, words importing mens rea must be read into the provision. (b) It is a universal principle that if a penal provision is reasonabl y capable of two interpretations, that interpretation which is most favourable to the accused must be adopted. (c) The fact that other sections of the Act expressly require mens rea is not in itself suf? ient to justify a decision that a section which is silent as to mens rea creates an absolute offence. It is necessary to go outside the Act and examine all relevant circumstances in order to establish that this must have been the intention of Parliament. The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea 19 So in Cundy v Le Coq (1884) 13 QB 207, a publican was found guilty of selling intoxicating liquor to a drunken person under s. 13 of the Licensing Act 1872, even though the publican did not know and had no reason to know that the customer was drunk; whereas in Sherras v De Rutzen [1895] 1 QB 918, a publican was not guilty under s. 6(2) of the Licensing Act 1872 of serving alcohol to a police constable while on duty when the accused did not know or have reason to know that the polic e constable was on duty. The former case was held to be an offence of strict liability, whereas in the latter, in order to obtain a conviction, the prosecution had to prove mens rea on behalf of the publican, which they were unable to do. Despite the fact that there is a presumption in favour of mens rea when a statute is silent, the courts have been prepared to rebut this presumption on many occasions.The leading case on this point is Gammon v Attorney-General for Hong Kong [1985] AC 1, where Lord Scarman set out the applicable principles. If the offence is truly criminal in character the presumption is particularly strong, but it can be displaced where the statute is concerned with an issue of social concern. Thus, in Gammon, as the accused’s activities involved public safety, the Privy Council were prepared to hold that the legislature intended the offence to be one of strict liability. On analysis these principles appear inconsistent. It could be argued that all crimes by de? ition are grave social evils, yet if the offence is truly criminal in character, strict liability does not apply. In practice, the courts have adopted a ? exible approach, but it is recognized that certain spheres of activity are always likely to attract the conclusion that this is an offence of strict liability. Thus in? ation (R v St Margaret’s Trust Ltd [1958] 2 All ER 289), pollution (Alphacell Ltd v Woodward [1972] 2 All ER 475), and dangerous drugs (Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v Storkwain, above) are traditional areas where strict liability has been imposed.However, it does seem in recent years that the category of grave social concern is expanding to encompass new social activity to include acting as a director whilst disquali? ed (R v Brockley [1994] Crim LR 671) and unauthorized possession of a dangerous dog (R v Bezzina [1994] 1 WLR 1057). However, the House of Lords have again emphasized the need for the prosecution to prove mens rea in B (A minor) v DPP [2000] 1 All ER 833, where Lord Hutton stated (at p. 855), ‘the test is not whether it is a reasonable implication that the statute rules outmens rea as a constituent part of the crime—the test is whether it is a necessary implication’.Further in R v Lambert [2001] 3 All ER 577, the House held that although s. 28 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 required the defence to prove a defence, this only meant introduce evidence of, rather than establish a defence on the balance of probabilities. In view of these developments, it is submitted that it would be most unlikely for s. 1 of the Ancient Book Act 2009 to be an offence of strict liability, and therefore Arthur will only be guilty if the prosecution can establish that he had the necessary mens rea.As Rix LJ observed in R v M [2009] EWCA 2615, even if the provision in question is silent as to mens rea and other provisions in the statute expressly require it, the presumption in 20 The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea favour of mens rea will not be rebutted unless the circumstances are such as to compel such a conclusion. If the court were to decide that the offence required the prosecution to prove intention, it is submitted that Arthur would not be convicted.He obtained the opinion of Ben, an expert and clearly did not desire or even foresee the consequence that protected books would be destroyed. Arthur has made a mistake, and even if an accused makes an unreasonable mistake, in accordance with the House of Lords’ decision in DPP v Morgan [1976] AC 182, he is, in the absence of any clear statutory intent to the contrary, entitled to be judged on the facts as he believed them to be. If the court decides that the offence could be committed recklessly, it would still be very dif? ult for the prosecution to establish the appropriate mens rea. It is almost certainly the case that subjective recklessness would have to be proved—i. e. , the prosecution must show that the accused foresaw the consequence and took an unjusti? ed risk (R v Cunningham [1957] 2 All ER 412 and R v G [2003] 4 All ER 765) (although technically the latter only deals with the issue of recklessness in relation to criminal damage). As Arthur sought the opinion of an expert it is dif? cult to see how it could be argued that he was consciously taking an unjusti? ed risk.It is therefore submitted that Arthur could be guilty of the offence only if the court decides that s. 1 of the Ancient Book Act 2009 creates an offence of strict liability. Turning to Ben’s liability, if he genuinely believed the books to be of post-1800 vintage and the courts interpret the offence as requiring at least recklessness on this issue, he could not be convicted as an accomplice as he would lack the necessary mens rea. If the offence were held to be one of strict or absolute liability Ben could only be convicted as an accomplice if he knew of the facts that constituted the offence—i. . he knew the books dated from before 1800—see Johnson v Youden [1950] 1 KB 544. Alternatively, if Ben knew or believed the books to date from before 1800 he could be charged with either: (i) doing an act capable of encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence intending to encourage or assist its commission contrary to s. 44 of the Serious Crime Act 2007; or (ii) doing an act capable of encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence believing that the offence will be committed and that his act will encourage or assist its commission contrary to s. 5 of the Serious Crime Act 2007. The act in question would be giving advice to Arthur he knew to be wrong. The fact that Arthur, in destroying the books, might have acted without mens rea will not absolve Ben. If the offence under the Ancient Book Act 2009 is construed as requiring fault it will be suf? cient for the prosecution to prove that Ben’s state of mind was such that, had he destroyed the books, he wou ld have acted with the degree of fault required for the full offence; see s. 47(5)(a)(iii) of the 2007 Act.If the 2009 Act is a strict liability offence, Ben can be convicted under the Serious Crime Act 2007, provided he believed that the books dated from before 1800 or was reckless as to whether or not they did. The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea 21 Question 4 Gloria, Wood’s eccentric aunt, aged 57, was invited to stay with Wood and his girlfriend Mary at their property on the coast. It was agreed that Gloria would stay for three weeks and would occupy ‘the lodge’ in the garden of the Wood’s house some 30 yards away. Gloria also agreed to pay ? 0 to cover the electricity she would use in the lodge. Everything went well for two weeks, with all three sharing meals at the house. However, a change of mood then came over Gloria who decided that she no longer wanted to have meals with Wood and Mary. Gloria spent more and more time by herself at th e lodge. After 20 days of the holiday Gloria, whose physical condition had visibly deteriorated, announced that she refused to leave the lodge and was going to stay there the rest of the winter. This so enraged Wood and Mary that the next day they told her to leave immediately, which she did.Six hours later, at 11 pm, Gloria rang their bell pleading to be let in as she was cold and hungry and had nowhere else to go. Wood and Mary refused, and during that night Gloria was taken to hospital suffering from hypothermia. While in hospital, Gloria fell unconscious and was placed on a life support machine. After ? ve days she was correctly diagnosed by Dr Spock as being in a persistent vegetative state with no hope of recovery. He accordingly disconnected the machine. Discuss the criminal responsibility (if any) of Wood and Mary. CommentaryThe sensible way to tackle this question is to start with an examination of failure to act as a basis for liability. The key aspect of this will be the comparison of the given cases with earlier decisions such as R v Instan and R v Stone and Dobinson. Care must be taken to distinguish between the facts of those cases and the current problem. The facts of the question require an examination of at least three bases for liability: blood relationship, reliance, and creating a dangerous situation. Do not fall into the trap of thinking that the discussion of omission is all that is required.Candidates must establish a causal link between the omission and the death—in fact and in law. Finally, candidates will need to consider the most appropriate form of homicide. Candidates are advised not to waste valuable time considering murder or unlawful act manslaughter—they are clearly not relevant on the facts. In relation to killing by gross negligence, candidates need to devote some time to the issue of duty of care—note that this covers very similar ground to the discussion relating to liability for omission—but the decision in R v Evans is particularly helpful and relevant here.Note: Candidates are not required to consider the responsibility of Dr Spock. 22 The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea Answer plan †¢ Is there a causative omission? †¢ Examine the bases for liability for failing to act—statutory, contractual, and common law †¢ Distinguish R v Instan and R v Stone & Dobinson †¢ Consider R v Miller and R v Evans †¢ Consider killing by gross negligence †¢ Can a duty of care be established? †¢ Is the degree of fault required made out on the facts? Suggested answer The ? st issue to be resolved is whether or not Wood and Mary can be said to have caused the death of Gloria. As there is no positive act by either of them that causes death, the court would need to investigate whether or not liability can be based on the failure of either or both of them to prevent Gloria’s death. The question as to whether an omission, as opposed to an act, can actually cause a consequence is a moot point. Traditionally, the criminal law has always drawn a clear distinction between acts and omissions, being loath to punish the latter.Other European countries—e. g. , Greece, France and Germany—do not exhibit the same reluctance, and there is dispute as to whether the English approach is correct. See in particular the different views of Professors A. Ashworth (1989) 105 LQR 424 and G. Williams (1991) 107 LQR 109. However, apart from the numerous statutes that impose a duty to act, e. g. , s. 170 of the Road Traf? c Act 1988, it appears that the common law will impose a duty to act only in very limited circumstances.There can be no criminal liability imposed on Wood and Mary in respect of their failing to care for Gloria unless the prosecution can establish that they were under a positive legal duty to care for her. Such a duty can be imposed by statute, but that is clearly not the case here. Similarly a legal duty to act can arise from a contract between the parties. For example in R v Pittwood (1902) 19 TLR 37, where the defendant, a railway gate operator, was found guilty of manslaughter when a person was killed crossing a railway line as a result of the defendant leaving the gate open when a train was coming.In the present case it could be argued that there was a contractual relationship, in that Gloria agreed to pay for her electricity and was in occupation of the lodge, but it is hard to see how any positive duty to care for Gloria can be implied—and in any event it would be argued that the contract was only for the initial three-week period, and that it was a purely domestic arrangement not intended to give rise to legally enforceable obligations. In respect of Wood it could be argued that he was under a common law duty to care for Gloria because she was a relative.Where the relationship is that of parent and child the common law has had little dif? culty in identifying a positive l egal duty of care so The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea 23 that failing to act can result in liability where it causes harm; see R v Gibbins and Proctor (1918) 13 Cr App R 134. In R v Instan [1893] 1 QB 450, liability for manslaughter was imposed upon a niece who failed to care for her aunt with whom she was living, having been given money by the aunt to supply groceries. Liability in Instan was largely based on the existence of a blood relationship between the parties.This would seem to suggest that, at least in the case of Wood, there might be a common law duty to act. It is submitted that the present case can be distinguished from Instan. In Instan the defendant actually occupied the same house as the deceased, and had expressly undertaken the task of purchasing food for her, which she subsequently failed to do, knowing well that her aunt could not fend for herself. In the present case Gloria decided for herself that she wanted to stay in the lodge alone, thus raisi ng the question of whether Wood was obliged to do anything more for her than he had been doing during the ? st two weeks of her stay. Furthermore the evidence suggests that it was refusing to readmit Gloria after she had been told to leave that led to her death—raising the question of whether Wood was under any obligation to readmit Gloria. The much more promising argument for the prosecution is that a positive legal duty to act at common law arose in respect of both Wood and Mary because they had allowed a relationship of reliance to develop between themselves and Gloria. The key authority here is R v Stone and Dobinson [1977] QB 354.In that case the Court of Appeal upheld convictions for killing by gross negligence on the basis that the defendants had admitted the deceased to their house and had attempted to care for her. They then failed to discharge their duty adequately and failed to summon any assistance in discharging that duty. The court stressed that the duty to act arose not simply because of a blood relationship between one of the defendants and the deceased, but because of the reliance relationship.It could be argued that in allowing Gloria to stay Wood and Mary allowed a relationship of reliance to develop—but the present case can be distinguished from Stone and Dobinson on the grounds that Wood and Mary placed a time limit on Gloria’s stay, and Gloria left of her own volition. Thus the argument as to whether or not there is any liability for failing to act is ? nely balanced. The prosecution could run an alternative argument on the basis that when Gloria begs to be readmitted to the house Wood and Mary are aware that their expulsion of Gloria has created a dangerous situation.There is evidence that Gloria’s physical condition had visibly deteriorated. Gloria was cold, hungry, and had nowhere to go. There was evidence that Gloria was eccentric. Applying R v Miller [1983] 1 All ER 978, where the House of Lords upheld the accused’s conviction for criminal damage where he had inadvertently started a ? re and then, when he realized what he had done, simply left the building without making any attempt to prevent the ? re spreading or to call the ? re brigade, it could be argued that by failing to offer Gloria shelter, Wood and Mary committed culpable omission that caused Gloria’s death.For the Miller principle to apply, the prosecution would have to show that the defendants were both aware that their expulsion of Gloria had created a dangerous situation. On the facts this should not be too dif? cult. 24 The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea Assuming that the failure to care for Gloria, or the refusal to readmit her to the house, can form the basis of liability, the prosecution will have to show that this omission caused Gloria’s death. It is not necessary for the prosecution to prove that the omission was the sole or main cause, merely that it contributed signi? antly to the victim’s death (R v Cheshire [1991] 3 All ER 670). The accused could argue that the doctor’s turning off the life support system constituted a novus actus interveniens, breaking the chain of causation; but this argument was rejected by the House of Lords in R v Malcherek; R v Steel [1981] 2 All ER 422, where Lord Lane CJ stated that ‘the fact that the victim has died, despite or because of medical treatment for the initial injury given by careful and skilled medical practitioners, will not exonerate the original assailant from responsibility for the death’.It is therefore clear that the medical treatment, of itself, will not be held to have broken the chain of causation in law. Wood and Mary could be charged with manslaughter on the basis of killing by gross negligence, which, unlike unlawful act manslaughter, can be based on an omission; see R v Lowe [1973] 1 All ER 805. The key authority regarding killing by gross negligence is the House of Lordsâ⠂¬â„¢ ruling in R v Adomako [1994] 3 All ER 79, where their Lordships held that an accused would be guilty of manslaughter if the following four conditions were satis? d: (i) the accused owed a duty of care to the victim; (ii) that duty was broken; (iii) the conduct of the accused was grossly negligent; (iv) that conduct caused the victim’s death. In some cases the existence of a duty of care will be self-evident, for example doctor and patient, parent and child etc. Notwithstanding the decision in R v Instan, it should not be assumed that all familial relationships will give rise to a legal duty of care, and in any event this would not assist as regards Mary. Signi? antly, the Court of Appeal decision in R v Evans [2009] EWCA Crim 650, indicates that a duty of care will be recognized by the courts in what might be referred to as ‘R v Miller’ situations— i. e. , where the defendant has created a dangerous situation and is aware, or ought reasonably to be a ware, that this is the case. Allowing Gloria’s physical condition to deteriorate and then not allowing her back into the house might provide the evidential basis for this. The trial judge in the present case should direct that they can conclude that a duty of care existed provided they ? d certain facts established—and the trial judge should make clear to the jury what those key facts are. It is submitted that there is suf? cient evidence for the jury to conclude that a duty of care existed. The breach of the duty of care is evident in their not helping Gloria and not attempting to obtain any alternative assistance for her—they did not even call the police to The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea 25 advise them of the problem. The issue of whether this breach of the duty of care can be said to have caused the death of Gloria has already been considered above.The remaining live issue, therefore, is that of gross negligence. Following the House of Lords ’ decision in R v Adomako the jury will have to determine whether or not the accused’s conduct: (a) departed from the proper standard of care incumbent upon them; (b) involved a risk of death to the victim; (c) was so grossly negligent that it ought to be regarded as criminal. As later cases such as R v Mark and another [2004] All ER (D) 35 (Oct) indicate, actual foresight of risk of death by the accused is not required.The test for mens rea is objective—does the jury regard the act or omission leading to the breach of duty as being so culpable that it should be labelled as ‘criminal’? Evidence that the defendants knew they would cause harm by not acting is admissible to establish the required fault, but is not essential. Similarly, evidence that Mary and Wood had never thought about what might happen to Gloria could be admissible to show that they should not be labelled as criminals, but such evidence would not preclude a ? nding by the jury that t hey had acted, or failed to act, in a manner that was grossly negligent. Question 5Critically analyse with reference to decided cases, the reasons why the development and application of the criminal law is often unpredictable and inconsistent. Commentary Occasionally an exam will contain a question that requires candidates to take a wider view of the criminal law. This is such a question. Candidates cannot simply home in on a speci? c area and cover it in detail. Candidates must try to think of instances throughout the syllabus that can be used in your arguments to answer the question. Avoid the common mistake of interpreting the question to read ‘Choose one area of the criminal law where there are dif? ulties and write all about them’! This question has been included as it enables candidates to think more widely about the role of the criminal law within the legal system and society as a whole. Providing a good answer requires the ability to take a broad view of the syl labus—something candidates who revise topics in isolation are not always able to do. 26 The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea Answer plan †¢ Constant change—R v R [1991] †¢ Lack of code—Caldwell [1981], Morgan [1975] †¢ Logic v policy †¢ Role of House of Lords—Clegg [1995] Suggested answer The development of many areas of law follows a consistent and logical course.The basic foundations, their concepts and application are accepted by the vast majority, and only ? ne tuning or adjustments of these principles are required to meet new situations. Unfortunately this cannot be said about criminal law, where the debate about fundamental concepts—such as whether recklessness should be interpreted subjectively or objectively; whether a mistake of fact relied upon by a defendant should have to be one that a reasonable person would have made; whether duress should be a defence to a charge of murder—is still ongoing. One of the problems is that the criminal law is subject to constant change.It has to adapt to cover new phenomena, such as stalking, drug abuse, and internet fraud and to re? ect society’s changing social and moral standards. As the House of Lords stated in R v R [1991] 4 All ER 481, abolishing the husband’s marital rape exemption, the common law is capable of evolving in the light of social, economic and cultural developments. In that case the recognition that the status of women had changed out of all recognition from the time (Hale’s Pleas of the Crown 1736) when the husband’s marital rape exemption was initially recognized was long overdue. Similarly, the criminal law once re? cted the moral position that it was a crime to take one’s own life. Failure in such an enterprise was prosecuted as attempted suicide and could be punished. However, attitudes softened and it was recognized that such a person needed help, not a criminal trial; the law was con sequently amended by the Suicide Act 1961. The 1960s saw similar changes in respect of the law relating to homosexuality and abortion. Changes in the law can also result from a shift in ideology on the part of an elected government, or as a response to new threats to the safety and stability of society—for example legislation to combat terrorism.There is no doubt that the development and application of the criminal law would be more consistent and predictable if the courts exhibited a more uniform approach to its development. The problem is illustrated by two House of Lords’ decisions: Metropolitan Police Commissioner v Caldwell [1981] 1 All ER 961, where an objective approach to recklessness was used, and DPP v Morgan [1975] 2 All ER 347, where a subjective approach to mistake was applied. Why was it that liability for recklessness was imposed on an objective basis, but where a defendant made a mistake of fact heThe elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea 27 was entitled (subject to any statutory provision to the contrary) to be judged on the facts as he honestly believed them to be? Commentators may argue that two different areas of the criminal law were being considered, criminal damage and rape (note that the law has since been changed as regards rape by the Sexual Offences Act 2003), but the inconsistency is still stark. At least in so far as recklessness is concerned, the House of Lords has now embraced the notion of subjectivity again in R v G [2003] 4 All ER 765, but the very fact that the legal de? ition of such a basic concept can change so much in the space of 20 years is itself startling. The Law Commission has long argued that the solution lies in codifying the law (see Law Com. No. 143) on the basis that: ‘the criminal law could then exhibit a uniform approach to all crimes and defences’. All other major European countries (France, Germany, and Spain) have a detailed criminal code, with a uniform approach providing a starting point for interpreting the law. The criminal law in England and Wales has developed in a piecemeal fashion, with one offence’s development showing little consistency with another’s.So often it is dif? cult to say what our law actually is, even before lawyers start to debate how it should be applied, e. g. , R v Savage; R v Parmenter [1992] 1 AC 699, interpreting (after over 130 years of use) the provisions of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. A code could be expressed in clear language with de? nitions of fundamental concepts such as intention and recklessness, as suggested by the Law Commission’s Draft Criminal Code; although, as the former chairman of the Law Commission Justice Henry Brooke stated ([1995] Crim LR 911): ‘Nobody in their right mind would want to put the existing criminal law into a codi? d form’. Often the criminal law follows a logical approach in its application; but as it does not exist in a vacuum and is not simply the application of academic principles, policy considerations sometimes have to prevail. As Lord Salmon stated in DPP v Majewski [1976] 2 All ER 142, regarding the defence of intoxication, ‘the answer is that in strict logic the view [intoxication is no defence to crimes of basic intent] cannot be justi? ed. But this is the view that has been adopted by the common law which is founded on common sense and experience rather than strict logic’. Policy considerations are also behind s. (3) of the Criminal Attempts Act 1981, whereby in the offence of attempt, the facts are to be as the accused believes them to be. Thus an accused, objectively viewed, may appear not to be committing a criminal act but because they believe they are, they can be guilty of attempting to commit that criminal act, as in R v Shivpuri [1986] 2 All ER 334. There is often no means of predicting which approach will prevail. In Jaggard v Dickinson [1980] 3 All ER 716, the accused, who had been in formed by her friend X that she could break into X’s house to shelter, while drunk mistakenly broke into V’s house.She was charged with criminal damage under s. 1(1) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971, but argued that she had a lawful excuse under s. 5(2) of the Act as she honestly believed that she had the owner’s consent. Although the prosecution contended that this was a crime of basic intent and therefore drunkenness was no defence (citing the 28 The elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea House of Lords’ decisions of Metropolitan Police Commissioner v Caldwell and DPP v Majewski in support), the Court of Appeal quashed her conviction, giving priority to the statutory provision of s. (2) of the 1971 Act. One important aspect of the criminal law process in recent years, which has caused uncertainty, is the role of the House of Lords in changing the criminal law. Clearly judges are there to say what the law is, not what it should be; but Lord Simon in DPP for Northern Ireland v Lynch [1975] 1 All ER 913 said: ‘I am all for recognising that judges do make law. And I am all for judges exercising their responsibilities boldly at the proper time and place†¦where matters of social policy are not involved which the collective wisdom of Parliament is better suited to resolve’.Thus in R v R, the House of Lords changed the law of rape, by abolishing the husband’s defence of marital rape immunity without waiting for Parliament to implement the Law Commission’s recommendations. However, their Lordships took the opposite view in R v Clegg [1995] 1 All ER 334, where they refused to follow the Law Commission’s suggestion that a person who was entitled to use force in self-defence but who used unreasonable force, thereby killing the victim, would be guilty of manslaughter, not murder.Lord Lloyd stated: I am not adverse to judges developing law, or indeed making new law, when they can see their way clearly , even where questions of social policy are involved. [A good example is R v R. ] But in the present case I am in no doubt that your Lordships should abstain from law making. The reduction of what would otherwise be murder to manslaughter in a particular class of case seems to me essentially a matter for decision by the legislature. It is dif? cult to appreciate the essential difference in issues in these two cases, despite Lord Lowry’s justi? cations in R v Clegg that ‘R v R dealt with a speci? act and not with a general principle governing criminal liability’. Clearly there is a difference in opinion amongst the Law Lords as to the correct application of these principles. This is well illustrated by the House of Lords’ decision in R v Gotts [1992] 1 All ER 832. The majority decision not to allow duress as a defence to attempted murder was on the basis that duress was no defence to murder. The minority view to the contrary revealed a different analysis. T hey argued that duress is a general defence throughout the criminal law with the exceptions of the offences of murder and treason.It is for Parliament, and not the courts, to limit the ambit of a defence; and as attempted murder is a different offence to murder, duress must therefore be available. It is submitted that these are the main reasons why the development and application of the criminal law is often uncertain and unpredictable. There are other factors, such as whether an issue is a question of law for the judge or fact for the jury, e. g. , the meaning of ‘administer’ (R v Gillard (1988) 87 Cr App R 189); the dif? culty in ascertaining the ratio decidendi of many cases, e. g. R v Brown [1993] 2 All ER 75 (consent); and the possible effect of the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights. But it is the lack of a code and uniform principles which are the main factors causing the inherent uncertainty. The elements of a crime: actus reus and me