Sport should govern itself on the field of play. The criminal law has Essay

Sport should govern itself on the field of play. The criminal law has no role to play in the regulation of sports field violence - Essay Example The argument surrounds the presence of the defense of implied consent, whereby the victim, realizing the possibility of harm involved, has given his consent to the risk of its occurrence. This applies to all contact sports, be it football, basketball, or wrestling and works in favor of the athletes in so much as allowing them to play to their fullest in the knowledge that, if they were to correspond to the rules of the game, they would not be liable for any consequential bodily harm. It seems, however, that the injured victim has to bear the entire burden, as he may have to spend time in the hospital, away from his livelihood. It is suggested that the issue is one of appropriate balance, where the courts, in favor of upholding public policy, may find themselves awarding punishment for intentionally injurious acts in order to provide effective deterrence to careless athletes in the future. The courts normally only intervene to determine the presence or absence of consent, which is provided as a defense by case law as well as statutory law to both assault and battery as prescribed by s. 47, 20, 18, and 20 of the Offense Against the Person Act 1861. In R v Brown (Anthony Joseph)1 Lord Templeman and Lord Jauncey declared that consent is more aptly deemed a defense as opposed to an element of the offense, a view endorsed by the Law Commission2. The effect of this is in shifting the burden of proof towards the defendant. In sports law, it is the victim’s implied informed consent to partake in the nature of the sport that shows his awareness to the risk of bodily harm. The requirement of knowledge of the degree of harm can be explained by the case of Konzani (2005)3. In that case, it was accepted by the courts that consent to the exact nature of the harm (such as the risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease) must be there before the defendant can use it as a defense. Consent given must