Miscellaneous Offences Flashcards
What is torture?
The European convention on human rights states that no one should be subject to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
Examples include…
- application of pain or suffering
- sleep deprivation
- exposure to continuities loud noise
- uncomfortable posture for long periods
- punched, kicked and being pulled along by the hair
- mental anguish alone
To be shown to violate the HCHR it must be shown to have gone beyond the minimum level of severity and courts can consider subjective factors like age, sex, state of health and life experience
The government has a positive obligation to prevent breaches of article 3 and this has been to prevent extradition to other countries where the subject could be tortured
What is the offence of torture?
This is an offence which concerns PUBLIC OFFICIALS or people acting in an OFFICIAL CAPACITY
Any person who is ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD
- a public official
- acting in an official capacity
- causes pain or suffering to another (ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD)
- in the performance of their duties
…OR…
- causes pain and suffering to another
- at the instigation, consent or acquiescence
- of a public official
- someone acting in an official capacity
- they are in the performance of their duties at the time of the consent / instigation / acquiescence
- the pain or suffering can be physical or mental
- public official includes police and custody officers
What is the offence of poisoning?
Any person who…
- unlawfully
- maliciously
- causes another to take or be administered
- any destructive or poisonous substance
- THEREBY endanger life
- inflict GBH
There are 3 ways to commit this offence
- directly administering it by putting it into someone’s mouth, injecting someone or spraying a substance into their face (police officers using CS will count here)
- using another person to administer it to the victim for you, wether or not that person knows what they are administering (filling a syringe with poison but telling someone it’s medicine to administer it)
- getting the victim to take it voluntarily without their knowledge of what they are taking taking (spiking their food without their knowledge)
- consent will normally remove unlawfulness but a person cannot consent to putting a harmful substance in their body (a heroin user consenting to someone injecting them or causing them to take heroin unless for a genuine medical reason)
- remember the child who was given methadone by a drug user to obtain their urine for a drugs test and suffered a life threatening illness
What is the offence of poisoning with intent?
Any person who…
- unlawfully
- maliciously
- administers
- causes to be administered
- any destructive or poisonous substance
- with intent to
- injure
- annoy
- aggravate
…any person
This is a crime of intent and, unlike poisoning, requires no actual result, just the intent to cause harm
This could include…
- spiking a drink with drugs
- giving drugs to children
- throwing chilli powder in someone’s eyes
What is the offence of throwing corrosive fluids?
Any person who…
- unlawfully and maliciously
- causes to explode
- sends
- causes to be received
- lay or place
- throw onto
- any corrosive, dangerous or explosive substance
- intent to burn, main, disfigure, disable or GBH
- any person
- explosive substance includes machines, substances or articles for use in the creation of or adaptation of explosive substances
- shotguns and firearms have been included as explosive substances
What is the offence of false imprisonment?
Any person who…
- unlawfully
- intentionally or recklessly
- restrain another persons freedom of movement
- a restrain for ANY period of time can amount to an offence
- simply locking someone in a car will suffice
- police officers making an unlawful arrest can commit this offence
- a home owner IS ALLOWED to detain someone they genuinely believed to be a burglar (even if not) in defence of their home. They would NEED to have the belief detention was necessary and only detained them in an appropriate way
What is the offence of kidnapping?
Any person who…
- takes
- carry’s away
- another person
- unlawfully or without consent
- the use of force or fraud to take the person will invalidate any consent and make it an offence
- force includes threats
- the distance taken can be very small (meters or yards)
- the person taken MUST BE ACCOMPANIED WHEN MOVING; causing someone to move from place to place (using fraud or threats) does NOT constitute a kidnap
What is the offence of hostage taking? People what was it queues chicken bye were
Any person who…
- in the UK or anywhere else
- unlawfully detains
- any person
- in order to influence a state, IGO or person
- to do OR abstain from doing any act
- by threatening to keep the person detained, harm them or kill them
What is the offence of slavery, servitude and forced labour?
Any person who…
- holds another is slavery or servitude
- requires another to do forced or compulsory labour
- knowing or ought to know they are holding a person in such circumstances
- this includes forcing someone to go pick pocketing or to beg
- the consent of the person concerned will not prevent it being an offence
What is the offence of human trafficking?
Any person who…
- arranges
- facilitates
- the travel
- of another
- with a view to the person being exploited
…and they intend to exploit the person themselves or know or ought to know another will exploit them in ANY PART OF THE WORLD, DURING or AFTER travelling
Arranging or facilitating means…
- recruiting
- transporting
- transferring
- harbouring
- receiving
- transferring or exchanging control
… of the person
Travel means…
- leaving a country
- entering or arriving in a country
- travelling within a country
An offence is committed if…
- the person is a UK national, regardless of where the arrangement or travel takes place
- the person is a non Uk national and either the arrangement or facilitation takes place from in the UK or any part of the travelling takes place to, from or in the UK
- consent of the person is irrelevant (adult or child)
- exploitation includes slavery, servitude or forced labour
What is the power of vehicle forfeiture?
Any person CONVICTED of human trafficking on indictment can be forced by the court to forfeit a vehicle used or intended to be used in human trafficking if they…
(IN THE CASE OF A LAND VEHICLE)
- owned it
- was the director, secretary or manager of a company which ones it
- was in possession of it at the time under a hire agreement
- was the director, secretary or manager of a company in possession at the time under a hire agreement
- was driving it in course of the offence
(IN THE CASE OF AIRCRAFT OR SHIPS)
- owned either
- director, manager or secretary of a company that owned either
- in possession either under a hire purchase
- director, manager or secretary of a company in possession under a hire agreement
- was a charterer of the ship at the time
- committed the offence whist captaining either
(IF THE PERSON CONVICTED DOES NOT OWN THE AIRCRAFT OR SHIP)
- to seize it the wonder or company owning must have known or ought to have know what it was intended to be used for
- if it is not a hovercraft, it must weigh less than 500 tones
- an aircraft weighing less than 5700 kilograms
