CRW1501 Intro to Criminal Law
EXAM.
UNIT 1
1. Name the four elements of criminal liability. [4]
• Act or conduct (1)
• Compliance with the definitional elements of the crime (1)
• Unlawfulness (1)
• Culpability (1)
2. Name and discuss the points of difference between a crime and a d...
1. Name the four elements of criminal liability. [4]
• Act or conduct (1)
• Compliance with the definitional elements of the crime (1)
• Unlawfulness (1)
• Culpability (1)
2. Name and discuss the points of difference between a crime and a delict (you
answer should be in “tabular” format or in the form of a table. [12]
The most important points of difference between a crime and a delict can be
summarised as follows:
Crimes : Delicts
1 Directed against public interests : Directed against private interests.
2 Form part of public law : Form part of private law.
3 State prosecutes : Private party institutes action.
4 Result in the imposition of punishment by the state : Result in the guilty party being
ordered to pay damages to the injured party.
5 State prosecutes perpetrator irrespective of the desires of private individual :
Injured party can choose whether he wishes to claim damages or not.
6 Trial governed by rules of criminal procedure : Trial governed by rules of civil
procedure.
, 3. As far as legislation as a source of criminal law is concerned, there is one
piece of legislation that is more important than all others, namely:
A. English law
B. Common law
C. Roman-Dutch law
D. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996.
4. The contents of the common law can be found in primary sources, such as:
A. acts of law or legislation
B. customary law
C. the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996
D. the writings of the Roman- Dutch authors
1. List the rules that are contained in the principle of legality. [5]
(a) A court can only convict and punish an accused for a crime if the conduct
is recognised by the law (statutory or common law) as a crime. Courts, in
other words, can not create new crimes. The conduct must also have some
penalty attached to its commission. (1)
(b) The conduct of the accused person must have been recognised as a crime
at the time of its commission. This rule is referred to as the ‘prohibition on
retrospectivity’ and is confirmed as part of South African law by virtue of its
inclusion in the South African Constitution. (1)
(d) A court of law must interpret the wording in the definition of a crime strictly
or narrowly. This rule applies to both common law and statutory crimes. (1)
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