Attempting The Impossible

Question 1

What is legal impossibility

Answer 1

D object is not criminal

Question 2

Does legal impossibility provide a defence

Answer 2

Yes

Question 3

When does legal impossibility apply

Answer 3

If d carried out all the that he intended but contrary to his belief did not actually commit a criminal offence then an attempt cannot have been committed

Question 4

Example of legal impossibility

Answer 4

When d smuggles a substance into the uk in mistaken belief that it’s importation and possession is a criminal offence when it’s not. D has not committed a crime

Question 5

In legal impossibility d objective is … And cannot be altered by

Answer 5

Dos objective was not a criminal offence this fact can’t be altered by d’s mistaken belief that it was

Question 6

What is factual impossibility

Answer 6

D’s objective was criminal but d mistook the facts of the situation

Question 7

Does factual impossibility provide a defence

Answer 7

No

Question 8

When would factual impossibility apply

Answer 8

Where d’s intended objective would have been criminal on the facts that d believed them to be but he failed to complete the crime because it was actually impossible to do so

Question 9

An example of factual Impossibility

Answer 9

D entered v bedroom with intention of killing v but d actually fires at a pile of laundry mistakenly believing the laundry to be the intended victim

Question 10

Which case from the House of Lords said the factual impossibility could not be an attempt

Answer 10

Haugton v smith

Question 11

Why was the decision in haugton v smith critiqued

Answer 11

If d satisfies both the actus reus and men’s rea of an attempt why should he get off

Question 12

Where did the critism of haugton v smith cumulate

Answer 12

Criminal attempts act which appeared to abolish the defence of factual impossibility j

Question 13

What does s1(2) criminal attempts act state

Answer 13

A person may be guilty of attempting to commit an offence to which this section applie even though the facts are such that the commission of the offence is impossible

Question 14

What was decided in Anderton v Ryan

Answer 14

That Mrs Ryan should not be convicted of attempted theft suggesting that factual impossibility could be a defence

Question 15

Where did the House of Lords revisit the issue of factual impossibility

Answer 15

R v shivpuri

Question 16

What questioned was asked in r v shivpuri

Answer 16

Whether factual impossibility could be a defence to a crime of attempt

Question 17

What did the House of Lords decide in r v shivpuri

Answer 17

D intended to smuggle heroine and that his conduct had gone beyond the predatory stage of the intended crime

Question 18

What happens when the House of Lords re visited Anderton b Ryan in 1987

Answer 18

Overruled using the practice statment stating that it was a wrong decision

Question 19

In 1987 what was finally decided about factual impossibility

Answer 19

Factual impossibility is not a defence to the crime of attempt

Question 20

What did shivpuri state in 1987

Answer 20

If d makes a mistake about the facts as in shivpuri which makes the commission of the full offence impossible, d can be guilty of an attempt

Question 21

What are the two forms of the doctrine of impossibility

Answer 21

Legal impossibility and factual impossibility