novus actus interveniens

English

Etymology

Latin, "new intervening act"

Noun

novus actus interveniens (uncountable)

1. (law) A doctrine of law that, in certain circumstances, an intervening event can break the chain of causation between a person's action and its result, potentially depriving that person of legal liability for the result; such an intervening event.
   • 2012 May 18, A. Karakatsanis, J., “R. v. Maybin, 2012 SCC 24”, in CanLII‎^[1], retrieved 21 September 2020:

     The fact that the bouncer’s act may have been a novus actus interveniens, or an intervening act, is part of the analysis of whether legal causation has been established and whether the appellants should be held legally accountable for the death.... The Manitoba Court of Appeal held that, in order for novus actus interveniens to apply to sever legal causation, the intervening act had to be, in some way, extraordinary or unusual.