AATF Definitions

Question 1

Knowing

Answer 1

The accused must have knowledge that the person that they are being an accessory to was party to an offence at the time of assisting them.

Question 2

SIMESTER AND BROOKBANKS: PRINCIPLES OF CRIMINAL LAW

Answer 2

Knowing means “knowing” or “correctly believing.”

The defendant may believe something wrongly but cannot “know” something that is false.

Question 3

R v CROOKS

Answer 3

Knowledge means actual knowledge or belief in the sense of having no real doubt that the person assisted was a party to the relevant offence.

Question 4

R v BRIGGS

Answer 4

Knowledge may also be inferred from wilful blindness or a deliberate abstention from making enquiries that would confirm the suspected truth.

Question 5

Party – Section 66(1) Crimes Act 1961

Answer 5

(1) Defined as being anyone who:
(a) Actually commits the offence; or
(b) Does or omits an act for the purpose of aiding any person to commit the offence; or
(c) Abets any person in the commission of the offence or
(d) Incites, counsels or procures any person to commit the offence.

Question 6

Offence –

Answer 6

Any act or omission that is punishable on conviction under any enactment, and are demarcated into four categories.

Question 7

Accessory can challenge…

Answer 7

A person charged with being an accessory after the fact is entitled to insist on proof of the principal crime and to challenge the evidence of it even if the principal offender has pleaded guilty.

Question 8

Receives / Comforts or Assists

Answer 8

The accused does a deliberate act for the purpose of assisting the person to evade justice. The act done must actually help the person in some way.

Question 9

Tampers with or actively suppresses any evidence

Answer 9

Must do a deliberate act in relation to evidence against offender for purpose of assisting person evade justice. The act must actually help the person.

Question 10

Help escape

Answer 10

The act must have specifically assisted the offender after they had been arrested.

Question 11

R v MANE

Answer 11

To be considered an accessory the acts done by the person must be after the completion of the offence

Question 12

Avoid arrest

Answer 12

All acts must be done by accused with the express intention that the person evades justice either by avoiding arrest or conviction.