Criminal Law prob areas Flashcards
what are the relevant factors for relying on diminished responsibility
- suffering from an abnormality of mental functioning
- arising from a recognised medical condition
- substantially impaired their ability to understand the nature of their conduct/form a rational judgement or exercise self-control
- provides an explanation in doing/being party to killing
what are the elements for gross negligence manslaughter
- D owed V duty of care
- D breached that duty of care
- at time of breach, serious and obvious risk of death
- reasonably forseeable at time of breach that breach gave rise to a serious and obvious risk of death
- breach caused/sig contributed to death
- circumstances of the breach were grossly negligence
is the requisite state of mind relevant in determining Gross Negligence Manslaughter
evidence of a defendant’s state of mind is irrelevant
the test is objective
what must D show if they want to rely on defence of loss of control
- lost control because of fear of serious violence
- that fear was genuine
who does the fear under loss of control need to be directed towards
the defendant or another identified person
is a considered desire for revenge suitable for loss of control
never (whether calm or angry)
who has the burden of proof for diminished responsibility and what level is it
the defence must prove that the partial defence applies on the balance of probabilities
(VERY UNUSUAL)
what is the MR for murder
intention to kill or cause GBH
what is the common law offence of gross negligence and how can it be committeed
it can be committed negligently
requirement = gross negligence
what is oblique intent in relation to murder
if the defendant foresaw someone’s death as a virtual certainty and the defendant appreciates this
(subjective test)
is there a time limit on being charged for murder if death is delayed
No
but if it occured more than 3 years after the initial injury and D has been convicted of a non-fatal offence tehn the AG must consent to any prosecution
is loss of self-control objective or subjective
(and triggers)
objective = ‘normal person of D’s age and sex’
= any other personal characteristics will not be considered
HOWEVER
* Trigger 1 (genuine fear of serious violence) is subjectively assessed
* Trigger 2 (feeling of being seriously wronged) is partly objective and partly subjective.
what must an unlawful act be in unlawful act manslaugter
must be ‘dangerous in the eyes of a reasonable person’
what is the relevance of a suicide pact for claims of diminished responsibility
reduces the offence of murder to manslaughter in the case of a survivor of a joint suicide pact (defendant must prove on BoP that he was acting in suicide plot)
what is the MR of ABH
must be an element of intention or recklessmess but there need not be any intention to cause the ACTUAL injuries suffered
