Positive duties, regulation and the criminal sanction

Recent years have seen significant increases in the number of positive duties (i.e. duties to take action, rather than simply duties to refrain) imposed by English law on individuals and organisations. Part I below gives examples of the new duties to report, to prevent and to protect, and their different enforcement mechanisms. Insofar as the criminal law is involved, some of these new developments may be said to indicate a movement away from English law's traditional reluctance to criminalise omissions.1 Is it justifiable to use the criminal law in this way? Should there be greater reliance on alternative methods of enforcement?