Conspiracy

• What Act & sections cover Conspiracy?

  s1 (1) Criminal Law Act 1977
• How does s1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977 define Conspiracy?

  s1 (1) Criminal Law Act 1977: A person is guilty of conspiracy to commit an offence when he/she agrees with any other person(s) that a course of conduct shall be pursued which, if carried out, will necessarily amount to the commission of an offence by one or more of the parties.
• What are the AR elements for Conspiracy?

  1. An agreement
  2. Between two or more persons
  3. To pursue a course of conduct which amounts to a crime
• When are the parties criminally liable?

  Once the agreement is reached.
• What happens if the persons does commit the offence?

  They will be charged with both Conspiracy & the Principal offence
• What are the MR elements for Conspiracy?

  1. Intent for the agreement
  2. Intent for the offence
  3. Intent or knowledge of the facts
• What is not sufficient to satisfy the first AR element: Agreement?

  Mere thoughts or negotiation is not sufficient; parties must reach an agreement & go beyond the stages of negotiation
• What is the L.P of Mehta?

  L.P: All parties must agree to the same course of conduct. There must be a ‘a shared design’
• What is not necessary for the first AR element to be satisfied?

  • Parties don’t all have to communicate with each other (as long as one person has communicated to all parties, that is enough)
  • No evidence of further steps needed.
  • Irrelevant if parties later change their mind
• What is stated in s1 (1) (b) that can be used for the first AR element?

  Irrelevant if the agreement is impossible to carry out
• What could happen if there was a mistaken belief by the conspirators?

  The conspirators will be judged on their planned actions & not what actually happened e.g if the parties agreed to plant seeds & believed that they were cannabis plants but were really parsnip seeds, they will be guilty of a conspiracy to grow cannabis
• What would occur if D agrees with A to commit a crime but secretly commits a more serious crime?

  Then D will be guilty of conspiring to commit the less serious offence
• What would occur if D agrees with A to commit a serious crime but only intends to commit a lesser crime?

  D will be not guilty of a conspiracy to commit the serious crime
• What examples does s2 (2) provide of parties that can not be liable for Conspiracy?

  • Agreement between D and the intended victim of the offence is not a conspiracy
  • Agreement involving only a married couple or only civil partners is not a conspiracy: UNLESS it involves a third party (will therefore be a Conspiracy)
  • Agreement with a person under the age of criminal responsibility (10 years old) is not a conspiracy
• What is the L.P of Churchill v Walton for MR?

  L.P: Not necessary for D to know all details, or to know that conduct is a crime
• What is the L.P of Yip Chiu-Cheung?

  L.P: Held that it did have to be shown that every alleged conspirator intended the agreement to be carried out
• What is the L.P of Anderson? (where D was convicted of conspiring with others to escape a prisoner however D stated that he lacked the MR for the offence as he did not intend for the escape plan to come into effect)

  L.P: that D will have the MR to play some part in the agreed course of conduct if they played a part that furthered the criminal objective
• What is the L.P of Siracusa?

  L.P: D intending to play ‘some part’ in carrying out the agreement will still make them guilty as there is no need for an equal distribution
• What is stated in s1 (2) about the MR?

  s1 (2) CLA: D must have Knowledge or intent as to facts necessary for the AR of the principal offence
• What is the meaning of knowledge of essential facts?

  The conspirators must be aware of any circumstances which form the AR that makes their conduct illegal OR must intend for those facts to be true
• What must the parties really intend?

  The parties must intend the consequences of their actions which are part of the AR (if AR resulted in a different outcome that was not intended by parties, there is no offence)
• What would occur if the conspirators foresaw the risk that their conduct may kill V?

  There is no conspiracy to murder unless they intended the death