Rules and theory in criminal law

• Crime


  A wrong against an individual, society and the state that should be punished
• Purpose of criminal law

  To deter people from committing offences, and if they do, they are punishable under law
• Lord Atkin: 'the criminal quality of an act cannot be discerned by intuition (made out by 'gut feeling'); nor can it be discovered by reference to any standard but one: is the act prohibited by penal consequences?'
• This topic was covered at the beginning of the year and is on teams "1.4 + 2.1 Law and Fault and Morality"
• Law


  A set of rules laid down by Parliament for the State. Every citizen is bound by the law and breaking the law allows the State to punish
• Morals


  Beliefs and values shared by a society or section of society – they tell us what is right and wrong. Breach of morals results in disapproval or feelings of guilt. They are often derived from religion.
• There is a conflict between laws and morals
• Some behaviour is regarded as just morally wrong, some as just criminally wrong and others as both criminally and morally wrong
• Establishing the elements required for a crime

  1. Actus reus (the guilty act)

  2. Mens rea (the guilty mind)
• The actus reus and mens rea must coincide (happen at the same time)
• Ways courts have taken a flexible approach to the coincidence of actus reus and mens rea

  1. Continuing acts

  2. Single transaction of events
• Fagan v Metropolitan Police Commissioner (1969)


  • Fagan accidentally parked his car on a police officer's foot when asked by the officer to park the car near the curb. Fagan did not mean to drive his car on the officer's foot. However, when asked to move, he refused. It was at this point that mens rea was formed and driving onto the officer's foot and remaining there was a continuing act.
• Thabo Meli (1954)


  • The defendants had attempted to kill the victim by beating him up but he was not dead. They then disposed of what they thought was his corpse over a cliff. The victim died as a result of the fall. The court held that there was one transaction of events and as long as the defendants had the relevant mens rea at the beginning of the transaction, it could coincide with the actus reus when that occurred.
• Under the doctrine of transferred malice


  Mens rea may be transferred from an intended victim to an unintended one
• Latimer (1986)


  • The defendant hit victim number one with his belt but it recoiled off him, injuring victim number two, an innocent bystander. The defendant had committed the actus reus of the offence with the necessary mens rea. The mens rea (intention to harm the person he aimed at) could be transferred to the actual victim.
• Burden of proof


  The responsibility to prove something
• Standard of proof


  • Beyond all reasonable doubt (higher standard in criminal cases)
  • On the balance of probabilities (lower standard used for some defences)
• The prosecution has the burden of proving the defendant is guilty beyond all reasonable doubt
• A person is presumed innocent until proved guilty
• The UK's criminal law is found in numerous statutes and in common law, making it difficult to keep up to date
• The Law Commission was given the task to codify the UK's criminal law but found the task impossible
• The UK has been a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights since 1950
• The Human Rights Act 1998 incorporated the Convention into UK law
• Certain rights protected by the Convention are important in criminal law, such as the right to liberty and the right to a fair trial