Accessory After the Fact

Question 1

Accessory After the Fact - Act/ Section/ Elements

Answer 1

Crimes Act 1961 
Section 71(1)

1. Everyone who
2. Knowing any person to have been party to the offence
3. Receives, comforts, or assists that person
   OR
   Tampers with or actively suppresses any evidence against him
4. In order to enable him to escape after arrest
   OR In order to enable him to avoid arrest or conviction

Question 2

Simester and Brookbanks

Answer 2

Knowing means knowing or correctly believing. The defendant may believe something that is false but cannot know something that is false.

Question 3

Any person definition

Answer 3

Gender neutral. Proven by judicial notice or circumstantial evidence.

Question 4

Party definition

Answer 4

Crimes Act 1961 
Section 66(1) 

(1)Everyone is party to and guilty of an offence 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 5

Offence definition

Answer 5

An act or omission that is punishable on conviction under any enactment, and are demarcated into four categories within section 6, criminal procedures act 2011.

Question 6

R v Crooks

Answer 6

R v Crooks

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. Mere suspicion of their involvement in the offence is insufficient.

Question 7

Knowledge test:

The accessory must possess the knowledge that:

Answer 7

1. An offence has been committed AND
2. The person they are assisting was a party to that offence

If knowledge comes about after the assistance, they are not liable.

Question 8

R v Briggs

Answer 8

As with a receiving charge under section 246(1), knowledge may also be inferred from wilful blindness or a deliberate abstention from making inquiries that would confirm the suspected truth.

Question 9

Actus reus of an accessory after the fact: (5 intents)

Answer 9

The intentional acts are:

• Receives
• Comforts
• Assists
• Tampers with evidence
• Actively suppresses evidence

Question 10

R v Mane

Answer 10

R v Mane

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

Question 11

Definitions

• Receives,
• Comforts or
• Assists

Answer 11

Receives
Harbouring an offender or offering them shelter.

Comforts
Providing an offender with things such as food and clothing.

Assists
Providing transport, acting as a lookout or providing false information to Police as to an offender’s whereabouts.

Question 12

Defintion and Example

• Tampers with evidence
• Actively suppresses evidence

Answer 12

Tampers:
To alter the evidence against the offender.

E.g: Modifying an offender’s telephone records to conceal communications that might implicate them.

Actively suppressing:
Concealing or destroying evidence against an offender.

E.g: Bloodied clothing is washed repeatedly to remove evidence.

Note: Silence or non-disclosure such as failing to report an offence to police will not attract liability.

Question 13

The intent held by the accessory when performing the act that assists the offender must be one of the three contained with the statue; to enable the offender to:

Answer 13

• Escape after arrest
• Avoid arrest
• Avoid conviction

Question 14

Intent definition

Answer 14

In a criminal law context there are two specific types of intent to an offence. Firstly, an intention to commit the offence and secondly, an intention to get a specific result.

Question 15

R v Gibbs

Answer 15

The act or acts done by the accessory must have helped the other person in some way to evade justice.

Question 16

R v Levy

Answer 16

It was held in R v Levy that Levy had done a deliberate act of removing used equipment for the purpose of assisting the offender to evade justice.

Question 17

Is an accessory after the fact entitled to insist on proof that the alleged offence was committed?

Answer 17

Yes they are and can challenge that proof, even if the principal offender has pleaded guilty to the principal offence. The offence must still be proved where required.