ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the limitations on liability of children in criminal law, the effects a person's mental state may have on their criminal liability and the concept and basic principles of vicarious liability in the criminal law. It analyses the need for corporate liability and the tests used in establishing it. The chapter explains some circumstances in which the law rules that a person is not capable of committing a crime. The main limitations are on: children under the age of ten; mentally ill persons and corporations. Tthere are some circumstances in which a person may be liable for the actions of another under the principle of vicarious liability. Corporations can be liable where a statute imposes vicarious liability or, in rare instances, under the common law, for example the offence of creating a public nuisance. In 2000 the government issued a consultation paper on the matter, Reforming the Law on Involuntary Manslaughter: The Government's Proposals.
