Concepts of Liability

Question 1

What needs to be present to find someone guilty of a criminal offence?

Answer 1

Actus Reus and Mens Rea

Question 2

What is the offence of murder?

Answer 2

The unlawful killing of a human being, within the Queens peace, with malice aforethought.

Question 3

What must be proven to convict someone of murder?

Answer 3

That the defendant CAUSED the death and INTENDED to kill or cause serious harm to the victim.

Question 4

What is the Actus Reus?

Answer 4

The ‘doing’ part of the offence, guilty act.

Question 5

What four types of actus reus are there?

Answer 5

Action Crimes
Result Crimes
State of Affairs
Omissions

Question 6

What is an Action Crime?

Answer 6

The Actus Reus is just an act, consequences of act are immaterial.

Question 7

Give an example of an Action Crime.

Answer 7

Perjury

Question 8

What is a Result Crime?

Answer 8

The defendants behaviour produces a result. They raise the issue of causation.

Question 9

Give an example of a Result Crime.

Answer 9

Murder

Question 10

What is State of Affairs?

Answer 10

Someone belongs to an organisation or they are in a place they shouldn’t be. The actus reus of state of affairs can be involuntary.

Question 11

Give an example of State of Affairs

Answer 11

Being a member of the Nazi party.

Question 12

What are two cases associated with State of Affairs?

Answer 12

Winzar v Chief Constable of Kent (1983)

R v Larsonneur (1933)

Question 13

What happened in Winzar v Chief Constable of Kent (1983)?

Answer 13

Defendant brought into a hospital, doctor found he was only drunk, asked him to leave. Police moved him onto the highway were he was convicted of being found drunk on a public highway.

Question 14

What happened in R v Larsonneur (1933)?

Answer 14

A French subject was required to leave the UK on a certain date, instead she went to Ireland, Irish brought her back to UK were she was convicted “as an alien who was found in the UK”.

Question 15

What is an Omission?

Answer 15

Failing to do an act can amount to the actus reus of a crime, generally there is no liability for failing to act unless a person is under a legal duty to take positive action.

Question 16

Give an example of an Omission.

Answer 16

Lifeguard failing to try and save someone who is drowning.

Question 17

What is Mens Rea?

Answer 17

Guilty mind - relates to a person’s mental state at the time of committing the offence. Did they intend to commit the crime?

Question 18

What two things need to coincide to establish a crime has been committed?

Answer 18

Actus reus and mens rea

Question 19

What three cases are associated with Coincidence of Actus Reus and Mens Rea?

Answer 19

Fagan (1969)
Thabo Mali and Others (1954) (Privy Council)
Church (1965)

Question 20

What happened in Fagan (1969)?

Answer 20

Fagan drove onto a police officers foot, when the police officer asked him to move off, he replied “fuck off” and switched the engine off. When he drove onto the foot it could be said he lacked the mens rea, but when he stayed on the foot, the mens rea was established as it coincided with the actus reus.

Question 21

What happened in Thabo Mali and Others (1954) (Privy Council)?

Answer 21

The defendants hit the victim with a piece of foot, thought they had killed him and rolled his body over a low cliff. Victim died of exposure, defendants were charged with murder as they had the intention to kill from the outset.

Question 22

What happened in Church (1965)?

Answer 22

Church had sex with a women in his van, after they got into a fight and he hit her, she went unconscious, he believed he had killed her and threw her body in the river. She drowned. Found guilty of manslaughter as the Judge said “his behaviour from the moment he first struck her to the moment he threw her into the river was a series of acts”.

Question 23

What is the Doctrine of Transferred Malice?

Answer 23

When someone intends to hurt someone but instead accidentally hurts someone else, they can still be charged for a crime even though it was an accident, the intention dimly transfers from the intended victim to the actual victim.

Question 24

What two cases are associated with the Doctrine of Transferred Malice?

Answer 24

Latimer (1886)

Mitchell (1983)

Question 25

What happened in Latimer (1886)?

Answer 25

The defendant had an argument in a pub and took his belt off, he swung it and missed his intended victim but hit another person by mistake. He was convicted of malicious wounding.

Question 26

What happened in Mitchell (1983)?

Answer 26

The defendant pushed in to a post office queue, a 72 year old man told him off so he pushed him into an elderly lady who fell over, she later died in hospital. Mitchell wads found guilty of manslaughter.