[...]... 221) In the medical scenario in particular, a doctor is not thinking about the 1 Compare the definition in the Oxford Dictionary of English (2003) which defines it as ‘the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma’ 8 Intention and causation in medical non-killing implications of intention and causation when he is going about his daily work Rather,... 1983: 84–99; Anscombe 1976; and Hart 1968: 116 et seq 10 Intention and causation in medical non-killing Aiming towards, or indeed making it our purpose to achieve a certain consequence, encompasses the idea of a plan or an objective the agent aims for in order to do something, or even the idea of doing something with a view to bringing about that which he wants or desires Intention should not, however,... it is performed, and its consequences However, the criminal law ignores both these and other elements inherent in euthanasia, and anomalies have arisen in the law of homicide as a direct result of judges, trained in criminal law, deciding issues which actually lie within the medical domain The criminal law errs, not only in applying a criminal standard to doctors when they are making end-of-life decisions,... the principle of double effect3 and the distinction made between acts and omissions,4 are tactical tools which ostensibly differentiate between administering pain-killing medication to a patient whose death is on the one hand intended, or, on the other, is a mere side effect, and between acting to kill and omitting to save As a result, although administering pain-killing medication and withdrawing life-sustaining... consequences, the jury could infer that the defendant intended to kill or harm In setting out his decisive test for intention, Lord Lane said: 12 Intention and causation in medical non-killing the jury should be directed that they are not entitled to infer the necessary intention unless they feel sure that death or serious bodily harm was a virtual certainty (barring some unforeseen intervention) as a result... because the criminal law ostensibly takes no account of motives except at the sentencing stage Although the subject matter here is inherently medical, the criminal law concepts of intention and causation are the governing factors in establishing blameworthiness and liability However, the criminal law of murder, with its emphasis on intention particularly, is an inappropriate way to deal with medical end-of-life... However, as an intentional killing, euthanasia comes within the ‘definition’ of murder and as such is punishable by a mandatory life sentence; the requisite elements of murder are present, namely the actus reus – that a person causes the death of another, and the mens rea – that he has the necessary intention Intention and causation are also key elements in suicide and aiding and abetting suicide, although... questions effectively and fairly Continued and singular over-reliance on the problematic concepts of intention and causation at the expense of ignoring real life circumstances and complex real life factors such as emotion and motive is not the way forward The first chapter of this book will therefore commence by examining intention, foresight and the problems associated with the mental element in murder 17 For... therefore examines the role which medical practitioners play in euthanasia, assisted suicide and withdrawing treatment, with particular concentration on the impact the criminal law concepts of intention and causation have on end-of-life decision-making Euthanasia is understood to be the compassionate bringing about of a death where the ‘victim’ is suffering from an incurable and/ or painful disease However,... that Woollin was inapplicable because, following Lord Scarman’s direction in Gillick v West Norfolk and Wisbech AHA ([1986] AC 112) – which in itself was inconsistent with the standard approach to intention – criminal intent is incompatible with the mens rea of a physician who is bona fide exercising his clinical judgment.16 Based on these decisions, therefore, what then is the definition of intention? . Law and Ethics in Medicine and Director of the Institute of Law and Ethics in Medicine at the University of Glasgow. Intention and Causation in Medical Non-Killing The. alt="" Intention and Causation in Medical Non-Killing The impact of criminal law concepts on euthanasia and assisted suicide This book criticises the way in