the theory of criminal law

Question 1

harm as the basis for criminalising conduct

Answer 1

harm means causing harm to others as in physical injury or damage to property, can be extended to also causing fear of future injury and hate crimes

Question 2

how else can harm be caused

Answer 2

harm to self and harm to others (self harm, substance abuse self inflicted injury, consent to injury inflicted by others, suicide, euthanasia) not all are criminal (suicide no longer a crime, court recognises d needs help)

Question 3

rule on consent to harm

Answer 3

even with consent law will not allow you to consent to serious injury as this is not in public interest (R V BROWN)

Question 4

harm to society

Answer 4

can harm society through hate speech or breaching moral principles such as “outraging decency” or “corrupting public morals

Question 5

fair labelling

Answer 5

law should be drafted so that elements of the offence are clear, law should be fair (level of offence should be in proportion to type of offence)- offences come in three categories summary, triable either way, indictable (allows offences to be labelled according to seriousness)

Question 6

correspondence

Answer 6

for criminal liability an appropriate match should be required between D’s conduct and its consequences (actus reus) and D’s state of mind (mens rea)

Question 7

maximum certainty

Answer 7

any person should be able to determine in advance what conduct is or is not criminal and adjust his/her behaviour accordingly. Crimes which are defined imprecisely breach this.

Question 8

no retrospective liability

Answer 8

unlawful conduct is not an offence at the time, unfair to convict the D of the offence. However, changes in the interpretation of the law by judges which operate retrospectively rather than just for future can have effect of creating retrospective liability (R V R MRITAL RAPE)