theory of crime Flashcards
what are the 5 topics
-harm
-fair labelling
-correspondance Principle
-maximum certainty
-non-retrospective liability
what is the law under harm
everyone has the right to be free from harm
what are criminal offences involving harm
-nonfatals
-fatals
-property
-offences causing harm to wider community
-minor regulatory offences
what’s the paternalistic view on harm
-some conduct should be criminalised to prevent self harm
what’s an example of a crime the paternalistic view of harm think should be criminalised
- offences to supply of drugs bc can be addictive and effect health
what’s the liberal view on harm
-when can society intervene?
allows individuals to have freedom to make choices meaning society can only intervene if individuals conduct harms others
what’s an example of conduct that harms others
-smoking in public or around children
what’s the autonomy of an individual?
when an individual has freedom to do what they want when and where they want
can society interfere with the autonomy of an individual? if so when?
can only limit autonomy of individual if an attempt to limit harm
what are examples of where autonomy of the individual has been limited to limit harm
-age limits on certain products ie.alchohol
- age for consent for sex
-assisting suicide illegal
what is fair labelling?
the label given to an offence should match the moral condemnation given to it and punishment should be in proportion to crime
why is it important that the label ‘criminal’ is not given if not fair to do so
- the ‘criminal’ label can limit employment and migration opportunities
what are the 2 principles that offer safeguards to ensure fair labelling?
1- innocent til proven guilty and juries deciding guilt = fair trials
2-appeal system- corrects mistakes prevent unfair labelling
give an example of where fair labelling is not achieved in crime
AR and MR of ABH and S20 don’t correspond
for ABH the MR only has to be of the lower offence, assault which doesn’t correspond to the AR
how do courts attempt to ensure fair labelling is achieved?
hint- causation, theft, transferred malice, defences and AR
-causation- D cannot be labelled ‘criminal’ if the chain breaks
-theft- there are situations where D can be honest therefore not guilty
-transferrred malice- ensures fair labelling as only having MR makes guilty
-defences- seek to remove liability
-AR- must be voluntary, unfair to punish someone being involuntary
what is the correspondence principle
-the MR of the crime (fault) should correspond to the AR
what is the purpose of the correspondence principle
to prevent unfair labelling of D who does not forsee AR
what crimes does the correspondence principle not apply
-MR MURDER- intent to cause GBH= D guilty when not intend murder
-ABH- D only needs MR of assault/battery for ABH
what is maximum certainty
the law must be as certain as possible
why is maximum certainty in law important
2 reasons
-elements amounting to a crime must be clear as individuals can determine their behaviour so they don’t break the law
-protects Ds from abuse of power by the state
e.g of the law being uncertain
hint- cases
Rv Misra- D challenged GNM bc the elements for the offence were uncertain
FOUND TO BE CLEAR IN ADAMAKO
what is retrospective legislation
legislation operating on matters taking place before enactment
what’s an example of retrospective legislation
penalising conduct that was lawful when it had occurred
what is non retrospective liability
no one shall be guilty of an offence if it was legal at the time but illegal in the future
