Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter discusses inchoate offences. Inchoate offences are where the full offence is not completed. The reason that the law fixes liability on defendants who have not fulfilled the full offence is to punish those who are willing to be involved in criminality even where the full offence is not, for one reason or another, completed. The law governing all inchoate offences is in a state of flux; the common law offence of incitement was replaced with new offences under the Serious Crime Act 2007. The law governing conspiracy and attempts was the subject of a Law Commission Report in December 2009.
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Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter discusses inchoate offences. Inchoate offences are where the full offence is not completed. The reason why the law fixes liability on defendants who have not fulfilled the full offence is to punish those who are willing to be involved in criminality even where the full offence is not, for one reason or another, completed. The law governing all inchoate offences is in a state of flux; the common law offence of incitement was replaced with new offences under the Serious Crime Act 2007. The law governing conspiracy and attempts was the subject of a Law Commission Report in December 2009.
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This chapter examines the ways in which criminal law treats conspiracies. Some of the controversies examined include: whether it is necessary and/or desirable to criminalize conspiracies; the extent to which there can be a conspiracy under the Criminal Law Act 1977 if the parties have only agreed to commit the substantive offence subject to some condition; what must be agreed and who must intend what to happen for a crime of conspiracy; the mens rea of statutory conspiracies; and whether common law conspiracies are so vague as to infringe the rule of law.
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This chapter discusses the law and theory on criminal damage. Criminal damage involves the defendant intentionally or recklessly destroying or damaging property belonging to another. The defendant will have a defence if they were acting with a lawful excuse. There is an offence of aggravated criminal damage, where damage was done with the defendant being reckless about whether people’s lives would be endangered as a result. Four criminal damage offences are found in the Criminal Damage Act 1971: basic criminal damage, arson, aggravated criminal damage, and aggravated arson. There is also an offence of racially aggravated criminal damage. The chapter also considers the Computer Misuse Act 1990, which was designed to protect information kept on computers.
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This chapter discusses the law and theory on criminal damage. Criminal damage involves the defendant intentionally or recklessly destroying or damaging property belonging to another. The defendant will have a defence if he or she was acting with a lawful excuse. Four criminal damage offences are found in the Criminal Damage Act 1971: basic criminal damage, arson, aggravated criminal damage, and aggravated arson. There is also an offence of racially aggravated criminal damage. The chapter also considers the Computer Misuse Act 1990, which was designed to protect information kept on computers.
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This chapter discusses the law and theory on burglary and blackmail. The offence of burglary is committed where a defendant enters a building as a trespasser with intent to commit one of the offences listed in section 9 of the Theft Act 1968. It is also committed where a defendant has entered a building as a trespasser and then committed one of a list of other offences. To be guilty of blackmail, a defendant must make unwarranted demands with menaces with a view to making a gain for themselves or a loss to another.
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This chapter discusses the law and theory on burglary and blackmail. The offence of burglary is committed where a defendant enters a building as a trespasser with intent to commit one of the offences listed in section 9 of the Theft Act 1968. It is also committed where a defendant has entered a building as a trespasser and then committed one of a list of other offences. To be guilty of blackmail, a defendant must make unwarranted demands with menaces with a view to making a gain for him or herself or a loss to another.
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This chapter examines the offences of damage to property, which are governed by the Criminal Damage Act 1971. It considers the ability to define damage; the relationship between the elements of the offence, particularly D’s mens rea as to circumstance elements; and the arguments for endangerment offences.
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This chapter begins by addressing the question: what is a crime? It then discusses the role of criminal law; the statistics of criminal behaviour; the ‘principles’ of criminal law; proposals for a Criminal Code; kinds of conduct that should be criminalized; culpability; the victim in criminal law; the criminal process; criminal law and the Human Rights Act 1998; critical criminal law; feminist legal thought; punishment; and sentencing.
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This chapter focuses on the ‘general part’ of the criminal law—the rules and principles of the criminal law whose importance and application can be analysed and debated without necessarily referring to a specific crime. It first examines the limits of the notion of involuntary conduct. It then looks at various challenges to the ‘voluntary act’ requirement—where is the act if the law criminalizes the occurrence of a state of affairs, or mere possession? Next, it considers how the voluntary act requirement relates to crimes of omission. This is followed by discussions of causation and the circumstances in which conduct may be recognized as justifiable.
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This chapter focuses on the ‘general part’ of the criminal law—the rules and principles of the criminal law whose importance and application can be analysed and debated without necessarily referring to a specific crime. It first examines the limits of the notion of involuntary conduct. It then looks at various challenges to the ‘voluntary act’ requirement—where is the act if the law criminalizes the occurrence of a state of affairs, or mere possession? Next, it considers how the voluntary act requirement relates to crimes of omission. This is followed by discussions of causation and the circumstances in which conduct may be recognized as justifiable.
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The actus reus is a central aspect of criminal law that defines the harm done to the victim and the wrong performed by the defendant. In many cases this involves proof that the defendant caused a particular result. A defendant will be held to have caused a result if but for their actions the result would not have occurred and there has been no intervening act of a third party. This chapter begins by distinguishing the component elements of a crime. It then discusses the voluntary act ‘requirement’; causation; classification of offences; the need for a voluntary act; omissions; and seeking a coherent approach to causation.
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The actus reus is a central aspect of criminal law that defines the harm done to the victim and the wrong performed by the defendant. In many cases this involves proof that the defendant caused a particular result. This chapter begins by distinguishing the component elements of a crime. It then discusses the voluntary act ‘requirement’; causation; classification of offences; the need for a voluntary act; omissions; and seeking a coherent approach to causation.
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12. The rule against hearsay III
Admissions and confessions
Admissions and confessions are the most important common law exceptions to the rule against hearsay. Section 118(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 preserves any rule of law relating to the admissibility of admissions made by agents in criminal proceedings. This chapter is divided into two parts, the first of which discusses admissions, covering the principles of admissibility; what admissions may bind a party; and what may be proved by admission. The second part deals with confessions, covering the admissibility of confessions; the exclusion of confessions; evidence yielded by inadmissible confessions; excluded confessions as relevant non-hearsay evidence; confessions by the mentally handicapped and those otherwise impaired; the Codes of Practice and the discretionary exclusion of confessions; the use of confessions by co-accused; confessions implicating co-accused; and partly adverse (‘mixed’) statements.
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11. The rule against hearsay II
Common law and statutory exceptions
This chapter discusses the statutory exceptions to the inadmissibility of hearsay evidence in criminal cases that were created by the Criminal Justice Act 2003. The impact of the Human Rights Act 1998 on the admissibility of hearsay evidence is discussed, including the important cases of Horncastle and Al-Khawaja and Tahery v United Kingdom, where the Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights came into conflict over whether an accused may be convicted where the ‘sole and decisive’ evidence against him is hearsay. The common law exceptions preserved by the Criminal Justice Act 2003 are then considered—res gestae. The chapter ends with discussion of the abolition of hearsay in civil proceedings by the Civil Evidence Act 1995.
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This introductory chapter examines the functions of criminal law and discusses the sources of criminal law. These include common law and statutes, international law, and the Human Rights Act 1998. It also considers the principle of fair labelling in criminal law and the codification of criminal law.
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This chapter explains the substantive law governing a defendant’s silence at the police station under ss. 34, 36, and 37 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act (CJPOA) 1994. It covers the risks associated with s. 34 CJPOA 1994; drawing inferences from a failure to account under ss. 36 and 37 CJPOA 1994; and the practical aspects associated with remaining silent.
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Martin Hannibal and Lisa Mountford
This chapter explains the substantive law governing a defendant’s silence at the police station under ss. 34, 36, and 37 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act (CJPOA) 1994. It covers the risks associated with s. 34 CJPOA 1994; drawing inferences from a failure to account under ss. 36 and 37 CJPOA 1994; and the practical aspects associated with remaining silent.
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This chapter considers the ways in which criminal law applies to those responsible for assisting or encouraging crimes, i.e. the liability under the Serious Crime Act 2007. It examines the unduly complex drafting of the offences and their wide scope.
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This chapter examines the law governing sexual offences found in the Sexual Offences Act 2003, focusing on non-consensual offences. Some of the controversies examined include the following: Parliament’s failure to define core elements of the offences, such as ‘consent’ and ‘sexual’ and the attempts by the courts to fill these lacunae; whether a deception perpetrated by the defendant necessarily vitiates the complainant’s consent; and the overly wide breadth of some of the offences.
