General Defences (Consent, Self-Defence, Duress)

Question 1

What crimes can consent be used as a defence to?

Answer 1

Assault and battery, not s47, s20 or s18 unless an exception applies, never murder

Question 2

What case shows organized sport as an exception?

Answer 2

R v Barnes

Question 3

When would a foul in sports be considered a crime?

Answer 3

When it is outside of what is expected in the sport, and is sufficiently grave to be categorized as criminal

Question 4

True or false, surgery and tattoos and piercings are all accepted exceptions

Answer 4

True

Question 5

What is meant by branding and which case shows this is accepted?

Answer 5

Burning or scratching markings into the skin of another, R v Wilson

Question 6

What is meant by horseplay and which case showed this was accepted?

Answer 6

Play fighting or messing around, R v Aitken

Question 7

True or false, a mistaken belief of consent is not valid, V must give consent personally

Answer 7

False, if there is a genuine mistake and the D thought the V had consented it is still a defence, R v Jones, this still applies if drunken, Richardson & Irwin

Question 8

What is meant by consent must be valid and informed?

Answer 8

D must know what they are consenting to, e.g. in Tabassum the women thought the man was a doctor, this was not true

Question 9

What is meant by the Gillick competent?

Answer 9

Defines that children cannot consent as they do not have a sufficient understanding of what is being proposed, e.g. getting tattoos in Burrell and Harmer

Question 10

Can consent be implied?

Answer 10

Yes, Wilson & Pringle, consent is implied in the everyday jostling’s of life

Question 11

Where is self-defence contained?

Answer 11

s76 Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 as amended by the Crime & Courts Act 2013

Question 12

What must the defendant believe that force is in the circumstances?

Answer 12

• Believe it was necessary, to fend off an imminent attack
• s76(3) CJAI, does not matter if a mistaken belief
• s76(6) CJAI, not required for the D to attempt retreat

Question 13

What must force be in the circumstances?

Answer 13

• Reasonable, not reasonable if disproportionate under s76(6) CJAI
• s76(7) CJAI, not expected to stop and think, expected they have reacted instinctively

Question 14

What is Duress by Threats?

Answer 14

-Where D has MR and AR, however a full defence if they can show if they did not commit it, they would be subject to serious injury or death

Question 15

What must there be between the threat and the crime and what case shows this?

Answer 15

• Causal link, must be threatened to commit a specific offence
• R v Cole

Question 16

What must the threat be of and who can this be made to?

Answer 16

• Serious injury or death, towards the D, immediate family or someone they would reasonably regard themselves as responsible for
• R v Valderrama-Vega

Question 17

What is the Graham test?

Answer 17

• Did the D act because he reasonably believed he had good cause to fear serious injury or death
• Would a sober person of reasonable firmness sharing the characteristics, respond in the same way

Question 18

What things can and can’t be considered when applying the Graham test?

Answer 18

• Allows age, sex, disability, psychiatric order

- Doesn’t allow low IQ, intoxication, addictions

Question 19

What must the threat be if not immediate and what case shows this?

Answer 19

-Imminent, R v Hasan

Question 20

What is meant by self-induced duress?

Answer 20

• If the D voluntarily places himself in a situation where he will be threatened to commit crime, he cannot rely on the defence
• R v Sharp, member of a gang

Question 21

What is duress of circumstances and what case shows us this?

Answer 21

• Threat does not come from a person but the circumstances the D finds himself in
• R v Willer