Not all laws are equal

As most lawyers are aware, manslaughter by an unlawful and dangerous act is a common law offence that occurs, in broad terms, when a person unintentionally causes the death of another by an unlawful act which a reasonable person in the position of the accused would have realised would expose another person to an appreciable risk of serious injury. Courts have, however, expressed various views on what is an 'unlawful act' for this purpose. In particular, before a dedicated offence of culpable driving existed, there was debate on whether the multiplicity of driving offences in various road safety acts and regulations could constitute an unlawful act.

The high point in Australia for excluding driving offences from the unlawful act doctrine appears to be R v Rau [1972] Tas SR 59, where Burbury CJ states: