A note on omissions

Abstract

Criminal liability for failing to do something is as much a part of the law as criminal liability for anything else, and a very familiar feature of any developed legal system. Enforceable duties are created by law to discourage people from going about their business in unacceptable ways, to ensure proper participation in activities and programs that are important to the life of the community, and to make sure that people who occupy a position of responsibility or are in some special relationship which leads others to rely on them do what might reasonably be expected of them. Most crimes of omission on the books are there for some such reason, though there are other sorts of reasons for creating enforceable duties that are equally good.