Practice question · Multiple choice
A strong swimmer watches a stranger drown in shallow water and does nothing. Why is this not homicide by omission, even though acting would certainly have saved the man?
Hints
- Ask where the duty to prevent this particular result would come from.
- Ease of prevention is not a source of duty.
Show the answer
B. Liability requires a legal duty to prevent harm, which mere capability does not establish
Why
Because commission by omission needs a position of guarantor, and capacity to help is not one. Article 11 requires a special legal duty whose breach is equivalent to causing the result. What the swimmer does commit is the pure-omission offence of failing to render assistance, which exists precisely to cover the person who has no guarantor duty and could easily have acted.
Practise Negligence and Omission
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