1st Edition
Act and Omission in Criminal Law Autonomy, Morality and Applications to Euthanasia
This book offers an innovative perspective on the critical distinction between acts and omissions in criminal law, a distinction that runs like a defining thread through all types of criminal offenses.
While any act that positively causes a prohibited harm is sufficient for a conviction, an omission that causes the very same harm warrants a conviction only when there is a legal duty to act. This fundamental distinction between acts and omissions is not just relevant to criminal law, but it is also deeply rooted in our moral thinking. Thus, it is commonly argued that the difference between acts and omissions is also applicable to the intuitive moral distinction between active euthanasia, forbidden in most countries, and passive euthanasia, permitted in many countries under certain circumstances. Hence, the significance of this book is threefold: First, it offers a comprehensive, coherent, and systematic discussion of the intersections between the philosophical-moral and the legal-criminal aspects of this fundamental topic. Second, it offers a novel rationale for the distinction between acts and omissions, based on the principle of autonomy. Finally, it demonstrates the influences of the theoretical discussion, on the most significant practical questions.
This book will be of interest to researchers, academics and policy-makers working in the areas of Criminal Law, Moral Philosophy and Bioethics.
Introduction. PART I: The Distinction between Act and Omission: Rationales and Classifications 1. The Skeptical Theory 2. The Moral Rationales 3. The Legal Rationales 4. The Autonomy-Based Theory. PART II: The Judicial Stance and the Implications of Various Rationales for Practical Questions Regarding the Act vs. Omission Distinction 5. The Judicial Standpoint Regarding the Definition of Acts and Omissions 6. Types of Duties that Can Serve as a Basis for Criminal Liability in Omissions 7. Differences in the Level of Punishment between Acts and Omissions 8. Distinguishing between Result and Conduct Crimes 9. Distinguishing between Active and Passive Euthanasia. Summary and Future Outlook
Biography
Roni Rosenberg is a senior lecturer at the Law Faculty of Ono Academic College, Israel. His field of research is the philosophy of substantive criminal law and the relationship between ethics and criminal jurisprudence.
“Professor Rosenberg provides exceptionally thorough analyses of the legal and moral distinctions between acts and omissions. This book is a must-read by anyone reflecting on this topic and its policy implications in drawing sensible lines between our criminal laws and our moral judgments.”
—Joshua Dressler, Distinguished University Professor Emeritus, Michael E. Moritz College of Law The Ohio State University
“Roni Rosenberg has produced a comprehensive treatment of how the philosophical and legal complexity of the contrast between acts and omissions applies to substantive controversies, especially the permissibility of euthanasia. But his book is so much more. It also contains a sophisticated examination of several of the most foundational issues in all of moral and legal philosophy.”
—Douglas Husak, Distinguished Professor (Emeritus), Rutgers University
“This book provides an enlightening, thorough, and original analysis of one of the challenging issues in moral and legal philosophy – the distinction between acts and omissions. Through a fascinating exploration of various rationales for this prevailing distinction, Roni Rosenberg sharply unpacks fundamental theoretical issues in substantive criminal law and demonstrates the practical implications of his analysis.”
—Hadar Dancig-Rosenberg [no relation to the author], Professor of Law, Bar-Ilan University; Visiting Professor of Law, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law (2023-2024)
