APPLICATION OF EGG-SHELL RULE IN CRIMINAL LAW

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to provide a structure to untangle the Theory of Causation and the Egg-Shell Skull Law with an appropriate interpretation, reasoning, regulatory requirements and pattern of cases. The law of the Egg-Shell is neatly illustrated by the sentence 'as you catch them, you take your victim.' The law specifies that if the defendant causes injuries to the victim that suffers from a certain weakness or pre-existing physical disability and resulting in severe damages, the defendant is responsible for the outcome. It is possible to remember the Egg-Shell Law in S.299 and in the Indian Penal Code example of S.300. The Egg-Shell Law is an exception to the reasonableness standard that is widely used to measure causal liability. The presumption of evidence rests on the prosecutor where the cause is in question, that the defendant was the factual cause as well as the moral cause of the outcome. The widely used test to prove objective cause is the 'but for' test, which essentially decides that the outcome may not have happened but for the actions of the defendant. The prosecutor must show that there was no novus actus interveniens ('new interfering act') that broke the chain of causation in order to prove legitimate causation, often referred to as 'chain of causation.