C/L/11. 'Stephen, in his Digest of the Criminal Law (4th edn, 1887) art 212, stated the general rule for offences against the person as follows: 'It is not a crime to cause death or bodily injury, even intentionally, by any omission…' Discuss.

Through the course of this essay a lot of valuable case law will be produced to show that almost in all the cases that reach the courts, omissions will be of a more serious nature than lets say a mere negligence and not as simple as the example of the 'drowning boy'. Consequently arguing that although at first Stephen's quote seems reasonable, in reality omissions to act are capable of constituting a criminal offence.