Intro Flashcards
What are the ingredients of a criminal conviction? (8)
- A court with procedural / technical jurisdiction
- A response-able agent (one who is capable of responding to the criminal law’s guidance and explaining her actions in court, if needed)
- Who is also capable of voluntary conduct
- Is exercising that capacity for voluntary conduct
- Performs the actus reus of an offence (i.e. conduct that constitutes or causes the harm that the criminal law is designed to prevent)
- The mens rea of the offence (the mental states identified as being sufficiently blameworthy for the defendant to have when performing the actus reus for criminal punishment to follow)
a. Tag-on liability which can be inchoate liability: when a pro tanto offence (described in rows 1-6 above) need not have been completed for there to be liability for an offence e.g. attempts, conspiracy, liability under ss.44-46 of the Serious Crime Act 2007 (Not in the syllabus)
b. complicity (or accessorial) liability: The liability of D for assisting or encouraging some other person, P, to commit a pro tanto offence - Absence of a justification
- Absence of an excuse
What are the related defensive pleas? (8)
- Limitation, double jeopardy
- Infancy, insanity, unfitness to plead
- Automatism
- Non-voluntary conduct (e.g. tripping, falling)
- Consent (in some cases), alibi, and other denials that the defendant brought about the actus reus
- Some mistakes, intoxication (leading to lack of mens rea), other denials that the defendant had the requisite mens rea etc.
a. All the defensive pleas mentioned above and below, plus some defensive pleas specific to the add-on liability concerned - Self-defence, defence of property, lawful arrest and prevention of crime, necessity
- Duress, statutory excuses
Which of these ingredients must be present to convict?
Every ingredient
How can D get an acquittal?
If a single defence applies
What does almost every criminal offence have?
an actus reus and a mens rea
What does actus reus mean?
example
It spells out what the defendant must actually do or cause to commit an offence
e.g. to obtain property by making a false statement
Where does actus reus come from?
What is the translation?
Latin
Guilty Act
What does actus reus also take into account?
any incriminating circumstances that must exist for an offence to be satisfied
What will a crime require in almost all instances?
the defendant to perform some conduct - a positive act
What can Parliament choose to do?
What must it ensure, to do this?
can decide to create liability where D has no control over her actions of circumstances
it must make its intention very clear
When do these situations arise?
where the offence is merely ‘found’ in certain circumstances
What does mens rea mean?
This spells out the state of mind that the defendant must have had at the time of the actus reus
Where does mens rea come from?
Translation?
Latin
Guilty mind
What must the defendant have done to be convicted?
For which offences?
made a blameworthy choice
more serious ones
Sometimes, what can suffice for conviction?
D’s negligence as to their conduct
Can D be convicted even without negligence?
Yes
known as offences of strict liability
What 2 things are different when it comes to one’s mens rea?
- having to intend or foresee a consequence of one’s actions / knowing/suspecting the facts relating to one’s conduct
- Knowing whether one’s conduct will amount to a criminal offence under the law of the land
What is not an excuse for criminal liability?
Ignorance of the law
What is required for an offence?
contemporaneity of the actus reus and the mens rea
How can the defendant avoid conviction? 2 ways
examples of the first?
by raising a defence or a defensive plea
e.g. duress, self-defence, necessity
What does the operation of the defensive plea prevent?
prevents D from being criminally liable for an offence
even if actus reus and mens rea are present
What is debated about defensive pleas?
examples of defensive pleas?
whether they are properly classified as defences in the proper technical sense
insanity, automatism, intoxication
What right applies to retrospective law?
right not to be punished by virtue of retrospective law
Where does this right come from?
Common Law
under Article 7 of ECHR
