3.1 Introduction to Criminal Law

Question 1

Criminology

Answer 1

The study of the non-legal aspects of crime, including its causes, correction, and prevention, from the viewpoints such as psychology, biology, etc

Question 2

What is a crime?

Answer 2

• Whatever Parliament says it is!
• Wrongful acts that the state recognizes as deserving of control

Question 3

Omission -

Answer 3

The failure to act in certain conditions (remember lies of omission)

Question 4

Four conditions for a Crime

Answer 4

1. The act is considered wrong by society
2. The act causes harm to society in general
3. The harm must be serious
4. The remedy must be handled by the criminal justice system

Question 5

Law changes

Answer 5

• Law changes as society does
• Penalties also change (u could get hung for stealing turnips bruh)

Question 6

Main Purposes of Criminal Law:

Answer 6

Protect people and property
Maintain order
Preserve standards of public decency

Question 7

The Criminal Code

Answer 7

Is a federal statute that contains the majority of the criminal laws passed by Parliament

The Criminal Code contains:
the offences
the sentences to be imposed
the procedures to follow when trying those accused of crimes

Question 8

Canadian Criminal Code (IMPORTANT)

Answer 8

Defines crime, outlines specific characteristics of offenses, and states penalties

IMPORTANT:

Summary: less serious offences with less serious punishments

Indictable: serious and harmful offences with intense punishments

Hybrid: an offence where the prosecutor can choose for the conviction to be summary or indictable, based on factors such as the seriousness of the accused’s actions and the harm caused

Question 9

Bill C-7

Answer 9

made records of pardoned sex offenders available for background checks

Question 10

Bill C-19

Answer 10

changed the sentencing for offences involving serious personal injury, terrorism, and organized crime

Question 11

Nature Vs. Nurture

Answer 11

Nature: A persons genetics affect how they turn out as a person

Nurture: A persons surroundings affect how they turn out as a person

Question 12

Who commits crimes? ENVIRONMENTAL:

Answer 12

Chicago School: social and environmental factors
were important in examining deviant behavior

Question 13

Who commits crimes? BIOLOGICAL:

Answer 13

• Lombroso
• Sigmund Freud: all humans
  have criminal tendencies

Question 14

Dark Figure of Crime

Answer 14

The dark figure of crime is the number of committed crimes that are never reported or never discovered.

Question 15

Double Victimization

Answer 15

Double victimization implies that victims incur costs during two distinct periods. First, they sustain a variety of losses directly from the criminal incident. Secondly, when the victim reports the crime or take the stand as a witness.

example is sa on women
woman being assaulted = 1
woman having to admit she was assaulted = 2

Question 16

Actus Reus

Answer 16

The guilty act
eg; the Actus Reus of homicide is killing another human being
- can also be omission

Question 17

Men’s Rea

Answer 17

The guilty mind
eg; it is an offense to “willfully” promote hatred “by communicating statements, other than in private conversation.”

Question 18

Absolute Liability offences

Answer 18

Absolute Liability offences only require the prosecution to prove that an unlawful act or omission occurred. The prosecution does not have to prove that the defendant had any form of intent

Question 19

Strict Liability Offences

Answer 19

Strict Liability Offences also only require the prosecution to prove that an unlawful act or omission occurred, but the defence can be “mistake of fact”, or due diligence

Question 20

To be convicted of a crime a person must not only have committed a criminal action, but -

Answer 20

Also have had a deliberate intention or guilty mind (men’s rea)

Question 21

In a crime of strict or absolute liability, a person could be guilty even if -

Answer 21

there was no intention to commit a crime

Question 22

The difference between strict and absolute liability is -

Answer 22

whether the defence of a “mistake of fact” is available: in a crime of absolute liability, a mistake of fact is not a defence
Cannot use mistake of fact to get out of a speeding ticket

Question 23

R. v. Cuerrier

Answer 23

R v Cuerrier was a 1998 decision by the Supreme Court of Canada, which ruled that knowingly exposing a sexual partner to HIV constitutes a prosecutable crime (aggravated assault) under Canadian law.
it was ruled Without disclosure of HIV status there cannot be a true consent. The consent cannot simply be to have sexual intercourse.

Question 24

R. v. Mabior

Answer 24

guy fucks multiple girls but fails to mention that he has HIV, therefore leading to these various girls testing positive and him ultimately getting sued for aggravated sexual assault :v

Question 25

R. v. Aziga

Answer 25

R. v. Aziga (2009) is a case in which a man, Hussein Aziga, was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated sexual assault for knowingly transmitting HIV to his sexual partners without disclosing his HIV-positive status.

fucks 2 people knowingly not disclosing his hiv status with them, one of them dies due to complications with the virus, and the other lives, MEANING:
2 aggravated sexual assaults
1 first degree murder

Question 26

R v. Lavallee

Answer 26

The case involved Nicole Lavallee, a woman who shot and killed her abusive partner, Serge Côté, after enduring years of physical and emotional abuse. Lavallee claimed that she feared for her life and believed that Côté was about to kill her, despite the fact that he was not actively threatening her at the time of the shooting. She shot him while he was standing with his back to her. Lavallee was charged with second-degree murder.

she was abused, the case was mainly concerning whether or not the abuse was enough to justify the battered woman syndrome and the action committed.