Comprehensive study notes for Criminal Law. Illustrated and easy to understand.
Includes: introduction, definitional elements, causation, unlawfulness, culpability, criminal capacity, intention, negligence, defences excluding fault, participants in crime, administration of justice, sex crimes, pe...
Public law Private law
oRelationship oRelationships
between state between
as authoritative individuals as
power and subject of legal
subjects of the order
state oState is
oRelationship authoritative
between power and
different states always a party
Substantive Law
•Substantive legal rules that
set out the rights and
duties of subjects/state
•Criminal law
Formal law
•Rules setting out
procedure/methods by
which rules of substantive
law are enforced
•Criminal procedural law
CRIMES AND DELICTS
Crimes Delicts
1
,Directed against public interests Directed against private interests
Form part of public law Form part of private law
State prosecutes Private party institutes action
Results in imposition of punishment by Results in guilty party being ordered to
the state pay damages to injured party
State prosecutes perpetrator irrespective Injured party can choose whether to
of the desires of the private individual claim damages or not
Trial governed by rules of criminal Trial governed by rules of civil procedure
procedure
CRIMES V OFFENCES
Crime Offence
• Conduct prohibited • Conduct prohibited
by common law by statute
SOURCES OF CRIMINAL LAW
LEGISLATION
• Act creating a crime/relating to a provision relating to determining criminal
liability must have priority over common law
• Substantive criminal law has not yet been codified
• Constitution > all legislation in importance
o All rules of law must be compatible with BoR
o Incompatible = null and void
2
, CASE LAW
• Court’s role in describing and developing criminal law
• Principle of judicial precedent:
o lower court is bound to follow construction place on law by a higher court
o higher court bound by earlier interpretation of law by same division
COMMON LAW
• Rules of law not contained in act of parliament/legislation
• Still as binding as any legislation
• Roman-Dutch common law: influence on SA criminal law is declining
o Courts have already garnered the wisdom of old sources
o Technological age is characterised by different needs and problems
• Historical method of researches is impeded upon in criminal law
o Old authorities were more concerned with punishment than prerequisites
for liability
o Contradicted e/o
o Did not discuss general principles of criminal law on a systematic basis
o Knowledge of psychology and human motivation was limited = views on
criminal capacity of mentally ill persons or of youths are not applicable
anymore
BILL OF RIGHTS
• BoR applies to executive, judiciary, and all organs of state
• No sovereign parliament
• All rules of law must be compatible with the BoR
• BoR prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, religion, or language
• BoR creates rights to dignity, life, freedom of person, etc
o Also second generation rights: right to clean environment, access to
adequate housing, etc
o No provision made for right to environment as free as possible of crime,
or a right to adequate protection against crime
• Section 36: rights of BoR may be limited in terms of law of general application…
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