Criminal Law

Question 1

AR and MR of Battery

Answer 1

AR: Application of unlawful force. Any unlawful physical contact.
MR: Intention or subjective
recklessness.

Question 2

AR and MR of Wounding and GBH s.20

Answer 2

AR: Inflicting gbh or wounding. GBH serious harm, wounding is breaking skin.

MR: Intention or recklessness as to if harm is caused.

Question 3

Assault

Answer 3

Intentionally putting another person in reasonable apprehension of an imminent harmful or offensive contact.

Question 4

Battery

Answer 4

any intentional [or reckless] touching of another person without the consent of that person and without lawful excuse. It need not necessarily be hostile, rude, or aggressive.

Question 5

ABH s.47 Offences against the person Act 1861

Answer 5

Any assault causing ABH.

Question 6

Wounding and GBH s.20

Answer 6

Unlawfully/maliciously wounding or inflicting any gbh upon any other person with or without a weapon.

Question 7

Wounding and GBH s.18

Answer 7

unlawfully/maliciously wound or cause gbh to any person, with intent, to do some gbh to any person, or with intent to resist or prevent the lawful apprehension or detainer of any person.

Question 8

Murder

Answer 8

Unlawful killing of another human being.

Question 9

Involuntary Manslaughter

Answer 9

The crime of killing another human being unlawfully but unintentionally.

Question 10

Theft

Answer 10

A person intentionally takes personal property of another without permission or consent and with the intent to convert it to the taker’s use.

Question 11

Preliminary offence - Attempt

Answer 11

A person tries to commit an offence but for some reason fails to complete it

Question 12

Transferred Malice

Answer 12

Intention can transfer if a similar act is committed on someone else.

Question 13

Omissions

Answer 13

Actus reus must involve an act, you can’t be guilty from a failure to act. 4 exceptions:
Contractual duty.
Statute.
A relationship.
A duty to put right a dangerous situation.

Question 14

Intervening Acts

Answer 14

Will only break COC if unforeseeable.
Won’t break COC if foreseeable.
Escape cases, where the victim caused own harm/death but the defendant is still an operating/substantial cause.

Question 15

Thin Skull Rule

Answer 15

Must take the victim as you find them.

Question 16

Legal Causation

Answer 16

Cause has to be significant.
Or act has to be substantial and
operating cause.

Question 17

Factual Causation

Answer 17

‘But for’ the act the consequences would be different.

Question 18

Circumstances

Answer 18

The context, act and intention.

Question 19

Mens Rea

Answer 19

Intention of the defendant.

Question 20

Actus Reus

Answer 20

Act/conduct of the crime

Question 21

Consent

Answer 21

Must be genuine and you can only consent to assault or battery and not death or the infliction of injury.
Can only consent to Sporting activities (heat of the moment), rough horseplay, surgery/tattooing.

Question 22

Insanity

Answer 22

M’Naghten Rules is what needs to be proved:

Defect of reason, must be deprived of power to reason.

Caused by disease of mind.

Must result in a person not knowing the nature and quality of their act or appreciating that act was wrong

Question 23

Intoxication

Answer 23

Not usually enable someone to avoid criminal liability.
Voluntary intoxication only a defence to murder or s.18. Person must be so intoxicated that they can’t form a mens rea.
Involuntary Intoxication a complete defence as long as mens rea cannot be formed.

Question 24

Self Defence

Answer 24

Common law to use reasonable force to protect yourself or others.
Use reasonable force to prevent a crime or make an arrest.
Was the force necessary?
Was the force reasonable?

Question 25

Robbery

Answer 25

the action of taking property unlawfully from a person or place by force or threat of force.

Question 26

Automatism

Answer 26

You have not willed the act, your body is acting without your mind being in control.
Must be a total loss of control.
The cause must be something external.

Question 27

Diminished responsibility

Answer 27

Bordering on but not amounting to insanity.

Defendant must be suffering from an abnormality of mental functioning.

Which results from a recognised medical condition.

Substantially impairs ability to understand his own conduct, form a rational judgement or exercise self control, gives explanation for his conduct.

Question 28

Provocation

Answer 28

Loss of self control.
The killing must result from loss of self control.

Must be a qualifying trigger (killing in response to fear of serious violence).

A person of the defendants age and sex with a normal degree of tolerance and self restraint would have reacted in similar way in same circumstances.

Question 29

Unlawful and dangerous act manslaughter

Answer 29

An unlawful act, must be a crime.

Must be proved that unlawful act was dangerous in the sense that a ‘sober and reasonable person would inevitably recognise it was risky’.

Act was the cause of death, this means applying the usual rules of factual causation and legal causation.

Mens rea required

Question 30

Gross Negligence Manslaughter

Answer 30

Duty of care is owed.

There must be a breach of duty, can be an omission and must be foreseeable risk of death.

Must cause death.

The mens rea is gross negligence.

Question 31

Duress

Answer 31

Defendant is forced to commit a crime due to a direct threat.

Question 32

AR and MR of ABH s.47 Offences against the person Act 1861

Answer 32

Actus reus is assault or battery + ABH (any hurt/injury calculated to interfere with health/comfort).

MR: Intention or subjective
recklessness.

Question 33

AR and MR of assault

Answer 33

AR: any act makes victim fear immediate infliction of unlawful force.

MR: Intention, aim purpose, subjective recklessness.

Question 34

AR and MR of Wounding and GBH s.18

Answer 34

AR: Wounding causing gbh. Judges decided that cause and inflict is the same, so the actus reus it too.

MR: Intention to cause gbh or intention to resist arrest.

Question 35

AR and MR of Murder

Answer 35

AR: Causing the death of a human being.

MR: Malice aforethought. Intention to cause gbh is sufficient.

Question 36

AR of Involuntary Manslaughter

Answer 36

An unlawful act, must be a crime.

Must be proved that unlawful act was dangerous in the sense that a ‘sober and reasonable person would inevitably recognise it was risky’.

Act was the cause of death, this means applying the usual rules of factual causation and legal causation.

Question 37

AR and MR of Theft

Answer 37

AR: Unauthorised taking, keeping, or using another’s property.

MR: Dishonesty and the intent to permanently deprive the owner or rightful of that property or its use.

Question 38

AR and MR of Preliminary offence - Attempt

Answer 38

AR: A person who does an act which is more than merely preparatory to the commission of the offence.

MR: Intent to commit that offence.

Question 39

AR and MR of Robbery

Answer 39

AR: A person uses force or threats of force on any person immediately before or at the time of stealing.

MR: Being dishonest and intentionally aiming to permanently deprive another person.

Question 40

Self defence

Answer 40

Common law to use reasonable force to protect yourself or others.
Use reasonable force to prevent a crime or make an arrest.
Was the force necessary?
Was the force reasonable?