On Mon, 16 Aug 2004, Mike D wrote:

Am I right in saying that you could be charged with manslaughter if
you 'Fail to offer reasonalbe assistance' to someone in need.

I don't believe so - not in English law.

German law is certainly different - a bystander could indeed be
charged with failing to render assistance[1] (though I don't think
that failure alone could lead to a manslaughter charge as you
suggest). But the flip side was that untrained bystanders could feel
themselves bound to intervene in a situation where their intervention
did more harm than good for the victim.

regards

[1] Google suggests http://lawww.de/Library/stgb/323c.htm
Punishment up to 1 year imprisonment, or a fine.