Inchoate crimes Flashcards
What are inchoate crimes?
Conduct directed at the commission of a crime.
What are examples of inchoate crimes?
- Attempt
- Incitement
- Conspiracy
How are attempts to commit statutory crimes punishable?
In terms of section 18(1) of the Riotous Assemblies Act.
What constitutes a punishable attempt?
Courts must enquire whether the accused’s conduct went further than mere acts of preparation for the commission of a crime.
What are the two kinds of attempts?
- Completed
- Uncompleted.
What is a completed attempt?
Where wrongdoer, intending to commit a crime, has done
everything which he set out to do but fails in his purpose either
through lack of skill or foresight, or through the existence of
some unexpected obstacle.
What is an uncompleted attempt?
Where wrongdoer has not completed all that he set out to do,
because the completion of the unlawful act/s has been
prevented by the intervention of an outside agency.
Which case illustrates a completed attempt?
S v Mshumpa.
Which case illustrates an uncompleted attempt?
R v Peverett.
What is the general rule regarding attempts?
Acts of preparation are not punishable.
What is punishable for attempt?
When accused has gone beyond the preparation stage and has actually embarked on the commission of the crime.
What is the proximity enquiry?
An enquiry where the court has to decide whether the accused has gone far enough toward the realisation of their intention to commit the crime.
What will the court consider in the proximity enquiry?
- What would have happened in the natural course of events, had the accused not been interrupted?
- The accused’s proximity in time and space to the commission
of the crime. - The extent to which the accused still had control over the train of events that they were busy putting into motion (and could thus stop, or reverse them)
- The point at which the court can properly infer, from the
accused’s actions, that they intended: to go through with the commission of the crime and to commit the crime in question.
What is incitement?
Encouraging or prompting another person to commit a crime.
What are requirements of incitement?
- Communication by accused to incitee (actus reus)
- Accused must have intended that the communication would reach the mind of the incitee and it would influence the incitee to commit a crime (mens rea)
