This chapter examines the law of attempts. It considers the precise mens rea for attempt: whether in addition to intending any result required for the crime, D must also intend the circumstances of the substantive offence in order to be guilty of attempting it; how far D’s acts must go in committing the substantive offence before he will be guilty of an attempt; whether the law criminalizes D who attempts to commit an offence even though on the facts it would have been impossible for him to commit the substantive offence; and reasons as to why it is appropriate to criminalize attempts to commit crimes.
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Chapter
Essential Cases: Criminal Law provides a bridge between course textbooks and key case judgments. This case document summarizes the facts and decision in R v Geddes [1996] Crim LR 894, Court of Appeal. The document also included supporting commentary from author Jonathan Herring.
Chapter
Essential Cases: Criminal Law provides a bridge between course textbooks and key case judgments. This case document summarizes the facts and decision in R v Pace and Rogers [2014] EWCA Crim 186, Court of Appeal. The document also included supporting commentary from author Jonathan Herring.
Chapter
Essential Cases: Criminal Law provides a bridge between course textbooks and key case judgments. This case document summarizes the facts and decision in R v Shivpuri [1987] AC 1, House of Lords. The document also included supporting commentary from author Jonathan Herring.
Chapter
Essential Cases: Criminal Law provides a bridge between course textbooks and key case judgments. This case document summarizes the facts and decision in R v MD [2004] EWCA Crim 1391, Court of Appeal. The document also included supporting commentary from author Jonathan Herring.
Chapter
Essential Cases: Criminal Law provides a bridge between course textbooks and key case judgments. This case document summarizes the facts and decision in R v Geddes [1996] Crim LR 894, Court of Appeal. The document also included supporting commentary from author Jonathan Herring.
Chapter
Essential Cases: Criminal Law provides a bridge between course textbooks and key case judgments. This case document summarizes the facts and decision in R v Pace and Rogers [2014] EWCA Crim 186, Court of Appeal. The document also included supporting commentary from author Jonathan Herring.
Chapter
Essential Cases: Criminal Law provides a bridge between course textbooks and key case judgments. This case document summarizes the facts and decision in R v Shivpuri [1987] AC 1, House of Lords. The document also included supporting commentary from author Jonathan Herring.
Chapter
Essential Cases: Criminal Law provides a bridge between course textbooks and key case judgments. This case document summarizes the facts and decision in R v MD [2004] EWCA Crim 1391, Court of Appeal. The document also included supporting commentary from author Jonathan Herring.
Chapter
This chapter begins by explaining the concept of an inchoate or ‘incomplete’ offence. Such an offence may occur when D does all that he or she can do to commit the crime (such as shooting at the victim), but simply fails to bring about the outcome. Alternatively, such an offence may occur when D is still at the stage of preparation for committing the offence, but has come so close to committing it that it would be right to call the acts in question an ‘attempt’ in themselves. The chapter then discusses the justifications for penalizing attempts at crimes, the elements of criminal attempt, the justifications for an offence of conspiracy, the elements of criminal conspiracy, encouraging or assisting crime, voluntary renunciation of criminal purpose, the relationship between substantive and inchoate crimes, and the place of inchoate liability.
Chapter
Titles in the Core Text series take the reader straight to the heart of the subject, providing focused, concise, and reliable guides for students at all levels. This chapter describes the law on attempt, conspiracy, incitement, and the new offences of encouraging or assisting crime. Attempt is possibly the most direct of the inchoate offences. A person must have performed acts ‘more than merely preparatory’ to the commission of the offence. Prosecutors may prosecute someone for conspiracy, although the principle for inchoate offences is frequently early prevention of crime. The Serious Crime Act 2007 abolished incitement as a common law offence and also altered the common law offence of incitement with three new offences.
Chapter
Essential Cases: Criminal Law provides a bridge between course textbooks and key case judgments. This case document summarizes the facts and decision in R v Taj [2018] EWCA Crim 1743, Court of Appeal. The document also included supporting commentary from author Jonathan Herring.
Chapter
Essential Cases: Criminal Law provides a bridge between course textbooks and key case judgments. This case document summarizes the facts and decision in R v Taj [2018] EWCA Crim 1743, Court of Appeal. The document also included supporting commentary from author Jonathan Herring.
Chapter
A person is criminally liable not only if he actually commits or participates in substantive offences, but also if he encourages or assists the commission of an offence, or conspires with others to commit an offence or attempts to commit an offence. Encouraging or assisting crime, conspiracy to commit a crime and attempt to commit a crime are statutory offences. They are known as inchoate offences (that is, incomplete or undeveloped). There are three offences of encouraging or assisting crime: intentionally encouraging or assisting an offence, encouraging or assisting an offence with the belief that it will be committed, and encouraging or assisting offences with the belief that one or more will be committed. These three offences replaced the common law offence of incitement. The chapter also discusses the common law offences of conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to corrupt public morals.
Chapter
This chapter discusses the law and theory of inchoate offences, which are those that seek to deal with defendants who have taken steps towards the commission of an offence but who have not (yet) committed it. The two best-known examples are attempts and conspiracies. In attempt cases, the defendant has gone beyond mere preparation and taken steps towards carrying out a complete crime. Conspiracy involves agreeing with others to commit an offence. The Serious Crime Act 2007 offences involve encouraging or assisting a person to commit an offence. With all of these inchoate offences the defendant has not themselves performed the actus reus but is sufficiently close to doing so, or persuading others to do so, for the law to find it appropriate to punish them. The second part of the chapter shows that there is much debate about the justification for inchoate offences.
Chapter
Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, diagrams, and exercises help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress. This chapter deals with liability for inchoate offences. ‘Inchoate’ means incomplete or undeveloped. Where, for whatever reason, the full criminal offence is not committed, the defendant may still be liable for an inchoate offence. There are three types of inchoate offence: encouraging or assisting crime, conspiracy, and attempt. There are three offences of encouraging or assisting crime under the Serious Crime Act 2007, namely intentionally encouraging or assisting an offence; encouraging or assisting an offence believing it will be committed; and encouraging or assisting offences believing one or more will be committed.
Chapter
This chapter begins by explaining the concept of an inchoate or ‘incomplete’ offence. Such an offence may occur when D does all that he or she can do to commit the crime (such as shooting at the victim), but simply fails to bring about the outcome. Alternatively, such an offence may occur when D is still at the stage of preparation for committing the offence, but has come so close to committing it that it would be right to call the acts in question an ‘attempt’ in themselves. The chapter then discusses the justifications for penalizing attempts at crimes, the elements of criminal attempt, the justifications for an offence of conspiracy, the elements of criminal conspiracy, incitement, encouraging or assisting crime, voluntary renunciation of criminal purpose, the relationship between substantive and inchoate crimes, and the place of inchoate liability.
Chapter
Michael J. Allen and Ian Edwards
Course-focused and contextual, Criminal Law provides a succinct overview of the key areas on the law curriculum balanced with thought-provoking contextual discussion. This chapter discusses inchoate crimes. A person does not break the criminal law simply by having evil thoughts. Where, however, a person takes steps towards effecting that plan to commit a substantive offence which is more than merely preparatory, he may in the process commit one of the inchoate crimes of attempt, conspiracy, or encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence. The chapter examines relevant offences in the Serious Crime Act 2007 concerning encouraging or assisting and the Act’s abolition of the offence of incitement. It outlines the legal protection from prosecution provided to particular vulnerable victims who might otherwise be liable for encouraging others to commit offences against them, such as some child victims of sexual offences. The chapter analyses the statutory offence of conspiracy and outlines common law offences of conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to corrupt public morals or to outrage public decency. It examines the requirements for liability for attempt. ‘The law in context’ feature in this chapter examines critically the growing range of inchoate offences for terrorist offences.
Chapter
David Ormerod and Karl Laird
Inchoate offences include attempts, conspiracies and assisting and encouraging under the Serious Crime Act 2007. Creating inchoate offences is difficult because the conduct involved will tend to be far removed from the type of harm necessary to charge a person under the relevant substantive offence. The actus reus of inchoate offences can encompass a wide range of behaviour, such as ‘an agreement’ in conspiracy or mere words of encouragement in assisting and encouraging. Given the broad nature of the actus reus, inchoates must be kept within reasonable limits by requirements of serious mens rea. This chapter deals with inchoate offences and considers the limits on liability for attempts of conspiracy and other secondary liability. It also discusses jurisdictional issues, common law conspiracies, procedural issues relating to conspiracies, encouragement and assistance under the Serious Crime Act 2007 and the impossibility of committing an inchoate crime.
Chapter
Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, diagrams, and exercises help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress. This chapter deals with liability for inchoate offences. ‘Inchoate’ means incomplete or undeveloped. Where, for whatever reason, the full criminal offence is not committed, the defendant may still be liable for an inchoate offence. There are three types of inchoate offence: encouraging or assisting crime, conspiracy, and attempt. There are three offences of encouraging or assisting crime under the Serious Crime Act 2007, namely intentionally encouraging or assisting an offence, encouraging or assisting an offence believing it will be committed, and encouraging or assisting offences believing one or more will be committed.
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