Evolution Of The Offence Flashcards
Mens rea
Guilty mind (intent)
Actus rea
Guilty act
Intent and case law
Intention to commit the act and the intention to get a specific result
R v Collister
- circumstances
- nature of the offence
- actions before, during, after
Recklessness
Taking a conscious and unjustified risk
Cameron v R
Recklessness
The defendant recognised that there is a real possibility that
- his actions would bring a proscribed result
- the proscribed circumstances existed
Having regard to that risk those actions were unreasonable
R v Tipple
Recklessness requires that the offender know of or have a conscious appreciation of the relevant risk
“A deliberate decision to run the risk”
Wilful blindness
Turning a blind eye
Not the same as knowledge
Subjective v Objective recklessness
Subjective - what the offender was thinking
Objective - what would a prudent person think
Causal link or chain of causation
Link between action and the relevant consequences
Must prove result would not have occurred without the offender’s actions
Statutory defences
Infancy s21
Defence of self or another s 48
Defence of property s52-54
Insanity s 23
Compulsion s24
Common law defences
Impossibility
Necessity
Consent e.g boxing
Intoxication
Mistake
Sane automatism e.g sex somnia
Conspires case law
Mulcahy v R
A conspiracy consists not merely in the intention of two or more but in the agreement of two or more to do an unlawful act or a lawful act by unlawful means
Completion of conspiracy and case law
Offence is complete when the agreement being made with the required intent
R v Sanders
A conspiracy does not end with the making of the agreement. The conspiratorial agreement continued in operation and therefore in existence until it is ended by the completion of its performance or abandonment or in any other manner by which the agreement is discharged.
R v White
Where you can prove that a suspect conspired with other parties whose identities are unknown, that suspect can still be convicted even if the identity of the other parties is never established and remains unknown.
To complete an attempt
Need intent, act, proximity
R v Harpur
Attempts
There must be a full evaluation in terms of time, place, circumstance.
Independent acts in isolation can be seen as preparation but when viewed collectively is an attempt
Proximity test
How close were they to committing the offence?
Function of the judge
Decide whether the accused had left the preparation stage and was trying to effect the completion of the full offence
Function of jury
- proved beyond reasonable doubt
- defendant’s acts close enough to the full offence
- intent of defendant
What constitutes being a party to an offence
Participate must have occurred before or during the commission of the offence
Must intentionally help or encourage
What to prove when charging as party
ID of defendant
Offence been committed
Elements satisfied
Section 66 (1) CA 1961
Actual participation of the principle offenders in the offence committed.
Section 66 (2)
Secondary party
When a common intention is formed between two or more people. Remain liable if the principal commits the offence in a different way
Secondary party knew it was likely to be committed as a result of their encouragement
Aids and Abets
Instigate and encourage
Presence at the scene not required
Incites, counsels or procures
Rouse, encourage, urge.
May end up at the scene
R v Betts and Ridley
An offence where no violence is contemplated and the principal offender in carrying out the common aim uses violence, a second offender taking no physical part is not liable
R v Renata
When Cannot ID principal offender. Sufficient to prove that each individual accused must have been either the principal or a party.
Larkins v Police
While it is unnecessary that the principal should be aware that he or she is being assisted, there must be proof of actual assistance
R v Russell
Accused was morally bound to take active steps to save his children but his deliberate abstention from doing so and giving authority of this approval to his wife act meant he was an aider thus secondary offender
When a person becomes an accessory
Section 71
The accessory received, comforted, assisted offender or tampered with or actively suppressed evidence, helped to escape/avoid arrest and conviction.
Actions of accessory
Receives
Comforts
Assists
Tampers with evidence
Actively suppresses evidende
Intent of accessory
Enable offender to
Escape after arrest
Avoid arrest
Avoid conviction
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 offence. Suspicion is insufficient
R v Briggs
Knowledge may be inferred from wilful blindness or deliberate abstention from making inquiries to confirm truth
R v Mane
To be considered an accessory the acts done by the person must be after the completion of the offence
