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The best key to pass criminal law in university

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Studying Law gives students an understanding of the role of Law in today's society and raises their awareness of the rights and responsibilities of individuals. By learning about legal rules and how and why they apply to real life, students also develop their analytical ability, decision making,...

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  • January 23, 2024
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Available practice questions

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Some examples from this set of practice questions

1.

Reverse proof burden:

Answer: Only for insanity and diminished responsibility

2.

How is guilt proved?

Answer: Mens rea can be proved because the fact-finder (usually the jury for our purposes) infers it from what D did or did not do. Section 8 Criminal Justice Act 1967 - A court or jury, in determining whether a person has committed an offence shall decide whether he did intend or foresee that result by reference to all the evidence, draw ing such inferences from the evidence as appear proper in the circumstances.

3.

Lambert [2002] 2 AC 545 D

Answer: appealed against his conviction for possession of a class A drug with intent to supply. He had been found in possession of a bag containing a drug but said he neither knew, nor suspected, nor had reason to suspect the nature of the contents of the bag. The question on appeal was whether he had to prove his lack of knowledge of the contents, or if the prosecution had to prove he did know. The section in issue was s 28 Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Section 28, insofar as it contained an express reverse proof burden, should be \'read down\' as imposing an evidential burden only on the accused (note: this is in fact obiter as the majority of the House held that Human Rights Act 1998 did not have retrospective application).

4.

Sheldrake v DPP

Answer: D was convicted of drink-driving. He appealed on the ground that the defence, which cast upon the defendant the burden of proving that there was no likelihood of his driving the vehicle while over the limit, violated his right to a fair trial under Article 6. House of Lords held that the allocation of a proof burden to the accused did not violate Article 6. It was directed to a legitimate objective (the prevention of death, injury, and damage caused by unfit drivers); and the likelihood of the defendant driving was a matter so closely conditioned by his own knowledge as to make it much more appropriate for him to prove on a balance of probabilities that he would not have been likely to drive.

5.

Woolmington [1935] AC 462

Answer: D was charged with murder. The trial judge directed the jury that once the prosecution had proved a person had died at D\'s hands; it was for D to prove it was not murder. Viscount Sankey held that the burden of proof lies on the prosecution, and that includes proof of each element of the crime, and the elements of any defence, other than the defence of insanity and other \'statutory provisions\'. \"Golden thread\" case.

6.

Definitional elements of gross negligence manslaughter

Answer: In Adomako [1994], Lord Mackay, the then Lord Chancellor, stated we can therefore conclude that the elements of the offence are: 1.a duty of care exists between D and V; 2. which is breached; 3. breach involves a risk of death; 4. which caused V to die; and 5. the jury finds the breach serious enough to be a crime.

7.

Definitional elements of criminal damage

Answer: s 1 Criminal Damage Act 1971: without lawful excuse destroys or damages any property belonging to another intending or being reckless as to whether any such property would be destroyed or damaged.

8.

Actus nonfacit reum nisi mens sit rea -

Answer: \'the act is not guilty unless the mind is guilty\'.

9.

Elements of a Crime

Answer: -The Physical Elements -The Mental Element

10.

Actus Reus

Answer: -Physical elements of a crime -Guilty action -Physically harming someone or committing the criminal act

Introduction to Criminal Law:

What is crime?

DEFINITION OF CRIME
⇒ It is difficult to define crime, as it must encompass a range of offences: everything from murder
to motoring offences.

⇒ Farmer argues the definition of crime depends on your perspective (e.g. you will have a
different definition of crime depending on the political and social factors in the country you live).

⇒ Nevertheless, the simple definition is that a crime is conduct defined as such by statute or
by common law. In other words, and not very helpfully, something is a crime if the law says it, is
a crime.

⇒ In Board of Trade v Owen (1957), Lord Tucker defined crime as "an unlawful act or default
which is an offence against the public and renders the person guilty of the act or default liable to
legal punishment".


 However, this definition can be criticised as not reflecting current attitudes to crime:

for example, it only mentions ‘punishment’ as a response to crime and not other

responses to crime, such as restoritative justice. (A system of criminal justice which

focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with victims and the

community at large.)


WHY DO WE NEED A DEFINITION OF CRIME?
⇒ Defining what is a crime is important if we are to distinguish a crime from a civil wrong.


 If you assault someone, for example, this is both a crime and a tort. Technically, through

either route (criminal or tort) a financial loss may be incurred by the defendant: in

criminal law the defendant could be fined, whereas in tort law the defendant may be

sued for damages.

 Thus, the importance in distinguishing a crime from a civil wrong lies in the moral

blame the defendant will be exposed to if convicted of a crime.

 If you are guilty of a crime, you will have to carry a certain level of condemnation (i.e.,

public disapproval) that does not necessarily exist if convicted of a tortious offence.

 Although, note, it may still be possible to award punitive damages (Damages exceeding

simple compensation and awarded to punish the defendant.) in civil proceedings (e.g.,

, tort proceedings) if the court regards the tort or breach of contract as a particularly

blameworthy one.

Functions of criminal law

THE MAIN FUNCTIONS
⇒ Maintaining order: Criminal law provides predictability, letting people know what to expect
from others. Without criminal law, there would be chaos and uncertainty.

⇒ Resolving disputes: The law makes it possible to resolve conflicts and disputes between
quarrelling citizens. It provides a peaceful, orderly way to handle grievances.

⇒ Protecting individuals and property: Criminal law protects citizens from criminals who
would inflict physical harm on others or take their possessions.

⇒ Providing for smooth functioning of society: Criminal law enables the government to
collect taxes, control pollution, and accomplish other socially beneficial tasks.

⇒ Safeguarding civil liberties: Criminal law protects individual rights.


ACADEMIC VIEW
⇒ Most academics view the criminal law as having a political function: to maintain order.

⇒ However, Duff (R. A. Duff, ‘Responsibility Citizenship and Criminal Law’ in S. Green and R. A.
Duff (eds) 'Philosophical Foundations of Criminal Law' (Oxford: OUP, 2011)) argues criminal law
enables “perpetrators of public wrongs [to] be called to account” i.e., it allows criminals to be held
responsible for their crimes.

⇒ Check out the aims and objectives of the Criminal Justice System, Aims and Objectives

The purpose of the Criminal Justice System (CJS) is to deliver justice for all, by
convicting and punishing the guilty and helping them to stop offending, while protecting
the innocent. It is responsible for detecting crime and bringing it to justice; and carrying
out the orders of court, such as collecting fines, and supervising community and
custodial punishment.

The key goals for the CJS are:

 To improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the CJS in bringing offences to justice.

 To increase public confidence in the fairness and effectiveness of the CJS.

 To increase victim satisfaction with the police, and victim and witness satisfaction with
the CJS.

,  To consistently collect, analyse and use good quality ethnicity data to identify and
address race disproportionality in the CJS; and

 To increase the recovery of criminal assets by recovering £250m of assets acquired
through crime by 2009-10.




Working together to cut crime and deliver justice.

The Criminal Justice Strategic Plan 2008-2011 sets out how the agencies of the Criminal Justice
System (CJS) in England and Wales will work together to deliver a justice system which:

 Is effective in bringing offences to justice, especially serious offences.

 Engages the public and inspires confidence.

 Puts the needs of victims at its heart; and has

 Simple and efficient processes.




Principles of criminal law

THE LEGALITY PRINCIPLE
⇒ The principle of legality is the legal ideal that requires all law to be clear.

⇒ It requires decision makers to resolve disputes by applying legal rules that have been declared
beforehand, and not to alter the legal situation retrospectively by discretionary departures from
established law.

⇒ In criminal law it means the court should not punish people for acts or omissions that
were not criminal at the time those acts or omissions took place. The principle is also
thought to be violated when the punishment for a particular crime is increased with retrospective
effect.

⇒ It requires the law be capable of being obeyed. If laws were kept secret that would clearly
infringe the legality principle.

⇒ It requires the law be readily available to the public. If a law was made prohibiting your
heart to beat in public that would clearly infringe the legality principle.


RESPONSIBILITY PRINCIPLE

, ⇒ The principle of responsibility is the principle that one should only be found guilty of crimes
they are responsible for. For example, if you were to have a seizure and committed a crime as
a result of that seizure, the principle may be infringed if you were punished for it.


THE MINIMAL CRIMINALISATION PRINCIPLE
⇒ The principle of minimal criminalization articulates that only serious offences which are
adverse to society should be criminalised, but not trivial ones.

⇒ If every tiny offence was criminalised, we would leave with heavily over-crowded prisons.




THE PROPORTIONALITY PRINCIPLE
⇒ The proportionality principle means punishment for a given crime should be roughly
proportional to that crime’s seriousness. It would be an outrage if, for instance, the
punishment for rape was the same as the punishment for speeding.


THE FAIR LABELLING PRINCIPLE
⇒ The fair labelling principle requires that the description of the offence should match the
wrong done (Chalmers and Leverick - Chalmers, J. and Lovesick, F. ‘Fair labelling in criminal
law’ Modern Law Review (2008)). For example, if the defendant kills someone through
negligence, ‘murder’ would not be a fair label to attach to what the defendant did.




Criminal Conduct

AUTONOMY
⇒ When deciding whether conduct should be criminalised the court must take into account
autonomy → this is the idea that one should be able to live their life as they please.

⇒ Criminal law is used to avoid somebody’s practice of autonomy from interfering with another
person’s autonomy.

⇒ The autonomy principle also explains why people should be liable for the bad choices they
make.

⇒ The autonomy principle is not without controversy: it has been argued, for example, that
although the right to choose how to live our lives may be available to the rich, this may not be the
case for the poor.


THE HARM PRINCIPLE

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