Single Best Answer Questions – Criminal Law
Unit 1 – AR and MR
What is meant by the term actus reus?
A. All elements of the offence except those that relate to the mens rea.
B. The mental part of the offence.
C. The result of the offence.
D. The penalty for the offence.
To convict for murder the prosecution must show that the
defendant brought about the victim’s death. Which of the
following statements is correct?
Murder is a state of affairs crime.
Murder is a conduct crime.
Murder is a result crime.
For result crimes, factual causation must be established. Which
one of the following statements is wrong?
Factual causation is an aspect of the actus reus.
Factual causation means that the accused completed the crime.
A defendant factually causes the result if it would not have occurred
as and when it did but for their conduct.
The prosecution must also establish legal causation. In which of
the following scenarios is it most likely that the chain of
causation would be broken so that the accused is NOT liable for
the victim’s death?
The defendant stabs the victim and leaves them in a building which
subsequently collapses in an earthquake, killing them.
The victim is assaulted by the defendant but dies when the
ambulance taking them to hospital crashes.
The victim commits suicide after a serious assault.
The defendant makes sexual advances towards a woman while
driving her home. The victim jumps out of the moving car and is hit
and killed by another vehicle.
Which one of the following is NOT an exception to the rule on
omissions?
Involuntary assumption of care for another.
Duty under a contract.
Creating a dangerous situation and failing to avert it.
Special relationship.
What does mens rea mean?
The motive for the offence.
The reason why an offence is committed.
The mental state when committing the offence.
The physical aspect of the offence.
,Which of the following correctly describes the definition of
indirect intent?
The consequence is highly likely to occur and the defendant is
aware of this.
The result is a virtually certain consequence of the act.
The result is a highly probable consequence of the act.
The result is a virtually certain consequence of the act and the
defendant is aware of this.
If a jury is satisfied that the test for indirect intent has been
established, they must find that the result was intended even
though it was not the defendant’s purpose.
Is this statement true or false?
True
False
Which of the following statements correctly describes the
meaning of recklessness?
The reasonable person would foresee a risk of the consequence and
the risk is unjustified.
The defendant foresees a risk that their action will have the
consequence and the risk is unjustified.
The reasonable person would foresee a risk of the consequence but
the risk is a reasonable one to take.
The defendant foresees a risk of the consequence but the risk is a
reasonable one to take.
Is it true or false that the test for negligence is a subjective one?
True
False
,Question 1
The defendant has a fight with the victim over a drugs dispute,
during which the defendant produces a knife and stabs the victim
in the stomach. The victim is rushed to hospital by ambulance but
subsequently dies and the defendant is charged with his murder.
The defendant argues that he is not liable because of an
intervening event.
Which of the following events is most likely to break the chain of
causation?
A. On the way to the hospital, the ambulance breaks down and the
victim dies while waiting for a second ambulance to attend.
B. The victim is kept waiting for several hours at the Accident and
Emergency Department of his local hospital and dies from
complications arising from the stab wound.
C. The victim receives prompt medical treatment but dies a month
later as a result of a post-operative infection because the wound
was not property treated.
D. The victim refuses to accept medical treatment because of his
religious beliefs and dies from the stab wound, when he would not
have done otherwise.
E. The victim is in hospital recovering from successful surgery for his
injuries when he dies from food poisoning from a chicken sandwich
which his mother gave him.
Question 2
A man wants to knock down a small brick wall on his property,
and he plans to do so using a large hammer. The brick wall is
within 5 meters of his neighbour’s car. The man decides to face
away from his neighbour’s car as he knocks the wall down, as he
hopes that doing so will reduce the risk of the bricks hitting his
neighbour’s car and causing damage to it, which he knows his
neighbour would be upset about. Unfortunately, as he is
smashing the wall down, one of the bricks does hit the
neighbour’s car, causing a dent on a door panel.
Which of the following best represents whether the man has the
mens rea for the offence of criminal damage?
A. The man has the mens rea of direct intent, as it was his aim,
purpose or desire to damage the car.
B. The man has the mens rea of indirect intent because the reasonable
person would have seen that damage to the car was a virtual
certainty.
C. The man has the mens rea of recklessness because he foresaw that
there was a risk that his actions would damage the car and he went
on to take the risk anyway.
D. The man does not have the mens rea for the offence because he
hoped not to cause damage to the car.
, E. The man does have the mens rea for the offence because the malice
can be transferred from the damage he intended to the wall, to the
damage caused to the car.
Option B is wrong because the test for indirect intent requires the man to
see the outcome as a virtual certainty (R v Woollin), not that the
reasonable person would have seen it as a virtual certainty. On these
facts, whilst he did foresee a risk and attempted to mitigate it, it does not
appear that he foresaw the risk as a virtual certainty.
- Wasn’t arguably virtually certain that the bricks would fall on the
car. You have to be 100% certain!
Unit 1 – AR and MR
What is meant by the term actus reus?
A. All elements of the offence except those that relate to the mens rea.
B. The mental part of the offence.
C. The result of the offence.
D. The penalty for the offence.
To convict for murder the prosecution must show that the
defendant brought about the victim’s death. Which of the
following statements is correct?
Murder is a state of affairs crime.
Murder is a conduct crime.
Murder is a result crime.
For result crimes, factual causation must be established. Which
one of the following statements is wrong?
Factual causation is an aspect of the actus reus.
Factual causation means that the accused completed the crime.
A defendant factually causes the result if it would not have occurred
as and when it did but for their conduct.
The prosecution must also establish legal causation. In which of
the following scenarios is it most likely that the chain of
causation would be broken so that the accused is NOT liable for
the victim’s death?
The defendant stabs the victim and leaves them in a building which
subsequently collapses in an earthquake, killing them.
The victim is assaulted by the defendant but dies when the
ambulance taking them to hospital crashes.
The victim commits suicide after a serious assault.
The defendant makes sexual advances towards a woman while
driving her home. The victim jumps out of the moving car and is hit
and killed by another vehicle.
Which one of the following is NOT an exception to the rule on
omissions?
Involuntary assumption of care for another.
Duty under a contract.
Creating a dangerous situation and failing to avert it.
Special relationship.
What does mens rea mean?
The motive for the offence.
The reason why an offence is committed.
The mental state when committing the offence.
The physical aspect of the offence.
,Which of the following correctly describes the definition of
indirect intent?
The consequence is highly likely to occur and the defendant is
aware of this.
The result is a virtually certain consequence of the act.
The result is a highly probable consequence of the act.
The result is a virtually certain consequence of the act and the
defendant is aware of this.
If a jury is satisfied that the test for indirect intent has been
established, they must find that the result was intended even
though it was not the defendant’s purpose.
Is this statement true or false?
True
False
Which of the following statements correctly describes the
meaning of recklessness?
The reasonable person would foresee a risk of the consequence and
the risk is unjustified.
The defendant foresees a risk that their action will have the
consequence and the risk is unjustified.
The reasonable person would foresee a risk of the consequence but
the risk is a reasonable one to take.
The defendant foresees a risk of the consequence but the risk is a
reasonable one to take.
Is it true or false that the test for negligence is a subjective one?
True
False
,Question 1
The defendant has a fight with the victim over a drugs dispute,
during which the defendant produces a knife and stabs the victim
in the stomach. The victim is rushed to hospital by ambulance but
subsequently dies and the defendant is charged with his murder.
The defendant argues that he is not liable because of an
intervening event.
Which of the following events is most likely to break the chain of
causation?
A. On the way to the hospital, the ambulance breaks down and the
victim dies while waiting for a second ambulance to attend.
B. The victim is kept waiting for several hours at the Accident and
Emergency Department of his local hospital and dies from
complications arising from the stab wound.
C. The victim receives prompt medical treatment but dies a month
later as a result of a post-operative infection because the wound
was not property treated.
D. The victim refuses to accept medical treatment because of his
religious beliefs and dies from the stab wound, when he would not
have done otherwise.
E. The victim is in hospital recovering from successful surgery for his
injuries when he dies from food poisoning from a chicken sandwich
which his mother gave him.
Question 2
A man wants to knock down a small brick wall on his property,
and he plans to do so using a large hammer. The brick wall is
within 5 meters of his neighbour’s car. The man decides to face
away from his neighbour’s car as he knocks the wall down, as he
hopes that doing so will reduce the risk of the bricks hitting his
neighbour’s car and causing damage to it, which he knows his
neighbour would be upset about. Unfortunately, as he is
smashing the wall down, one of the bricks does hit the
neighbour’s car, causing a dent on a door panel.
Which of the following best represents whether the man has the
mens rea for the offence of criminal damage?
A. The man has the mens rea of direct intent, as it was his aim,
purpose or desire to damage the car.
B. The man has the mens rea of indirect intent because the reasonable
person would have seen that damage to the car was a virtual
certainty.
C. The man has the mens rea of recklessness because he foresaw that
there was a risk that his actions would damage the car and he went
on to take the risk anyway.
D. The man does not have the mens rea for the offence because he
hoped not to cause damage to the car.
, E. The man does have the mens rea for the offence because the malice
can be transferred from the damage he intended to the wall, to the
damage caused to the car.
Option B is wrong because the test for indirect intent requires the man to
see the outcome as a virtual certainty (R v Woollin), not that the
reasonable person would have seen it as a virtual certainty. On these
facts, whilst he did foresee a risk and attempted to mitigate it, it does not
appear that he foresaw the risk as a virtual certainty.
- Wasn’t arguably virtually certain that the bricks would fall on the
car. You have to be 100% certain!
