Rules of Criminal Law Flashcards
Crime definition
intentional act deemed socially harmful aka breaking the law
Problem with defining crimes
Changing attitudes e.g. R v R (1991) rape within marriage
Term criminal law refers to
substantive criminal laws
relationship between morality and law
is subjective, sometimes acts that are essentially criminal are sometimes blind sided by juries
Retributive justice
focus on the punishment for the crime
Corrective justice
liability rectifies the injustice inflicted by one person to another
Criminal law is set down by state
state brings forward prosecutions and imposes penalties on offenders, however private organisations can also bring forward prosecutions
Elements of crime
AR
MR
Actus Reus
refers to the alleged act itself e.g. killing someone
Mens Rea
the mental element of the act or the degree of intent e.g. intention to kill someone
Elements must be together
however if the act is ongoing and the presence of MR at any point can be proved, that is sufficient
Even if AR and MR are both there:
the defendant may still be found not guilty
Strict liability
the prosecution on has to prove AR
Defences
offences (fatal and non fatal) committed by the defendant can sometimes include a no. of factors that could lead to a ‘not guilty’ verdict
Duress and necessity
can’t be defences for murder, intoxication can only be used as a defence when D didn’t have the required MR
Standard of proof
in criminal cases need to be ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ in order to convict
Burden of proof
is on the prosecution to prove that the AR and MR were both there when the offence was committed
Raising a defence
- if D wishes to raise a defence they can but it must be valid
- there are some other exceptions where the burden of proof is on the D where defences have been created by statute
- in certain cases, such as pleading insanity, there is a reverse onus on the defendant to prove their case
