Criminal law lectures: Introduction

What is the Criminal Law?
-Criminal Law is the study of the legal rules which determine criminal liability
-About trying to decide whether someone has committed a crime.

Who can take a case to court?
-The state and not the victim
-Brown v Smith (civil case)
-R. v Smith (criminal case)

What happens in a criminal court?
-Jury v judge/ In a civil trial, a Judge makes the decision. In criminal cases, Juries make decisions on innocent/guilty – Judge merely directs the Jury on legal points and decides the punishment.
-Burden of proof: beyond reasonable doubt/ Civil case is based on a balance of probabilities.

Punishment
- Punishment not compensation.
- Criminal record.

What is a crime?
E.g. Murder, manslaughter, assaults, property offences (theft and deception), inchoate offences (attempt, conspiracy and incitement).
Criminal law is not about trying to work out the facts of the case and whether evidence can prove guilt.

-Ann stabs Beth intending to kill her. Beth dies.
-Cat stabs Beth intending to seriously injury her. Beth dies.
-Debs punches Beth in the face intending to give her a black eye. Debs hits harder than she expected. Beth dies

Is Ann worse than Debs and Cat?
Is Ann worse than Debs?
-Or does it make it no difference what they intended, Beth dies in every case.
The Criminal law is interested in
-Action (including the result)
-Mental state
Types of reasons that must be taken into account.

-Ann stabs Beth intending to kill her. Beth dies.
-Beth had cheated Ann out of £50,000 and Ann was just getting her own back.
-Ann has walked in on Beth in Bed with Eric, Ann’s husband.
-Beth was a serial killer trying to kill Ann.
-Defences

Structure of a crime. Three main elements:
-Act (includes result) ACTUS REUS
-Mental state MENS REA
-Defence (or lack of it)

Principles of the Criminal Law
-Structure of the Law
-Actus Reus (act plus result)
-Mens Rea (mental state)
-Defence (lack of)
Principles that underpin the criminal law. The principles the criminal law should aspire to achieve.
Criminal law is about measuring how blameworthy someone is.

Why do we need principles?
-Can’t just rely on intuition and instinct.
-Need principles to measure blameworthiness.

Use the principles to test the coherence of the criminal law and to criticise it.

Principle of Autonomy
-Humans are rational and choose how to act.
-Look at Murder scenarios.
-How would the principle of autonomy apportion blame?

Ann is responsible for death, choose to kill Beth
Debs did not choose to kill Beth, so will be less harshly treated by the law.

-Principle of autonomy explains why he law is interested in Mens Rea (mental state)
CHOICE
But how does the principle of autonomy apply to;
-Young children.
-The insane.
-Those under the influence of drink or drugs.

Interplay between principles of autonomy and welfare

Principle of Welfare
-The purpose of the criminal law is to protect society from harmful behaviour and dangerous.
-Principle of Welfare and:
The insane: Not held criminally responsible, but will secured in a Mental hospital until they are no longer deemed a threat to society.
Those under the influence of drink or of drugs: If Ann is drunk and kills Beth (did not know what she was doing), she should not be held criminally responsible.

-Mens Rea (mental state): Only those who choose to bring about harm should be held culpable BUT what about Debs?
-Correspondence Principle: Mens Rea and Actus Reus (result of the crime)
should correspond. (People should only be guilty for the action they choose to bring about).
-Constructive Crime: When the actus reus goes beyond the mens rea (their actions resulted in an outcome they had not intended).