Core Principles Flashcards
(23 cards)
What are the key components of criminal liability?
Criminal liability is established by proving:
Actus reus (guilty act)
Mens rea (guilty mind)
Absence of a valid defence
What are the four types of actus reus?
Conduct: doing something prohibited (e.g. making a demand with menaces – blackmail under s 21 Theft Act 1968).
Result: causing a particular prohibited consequence (e.g. death in murder).
Circumstances: surrounding facts (e.g. appropriating ‘property belonging to another’ in theft).
Omissions: failing to act where there is a legal duty (e.g. lifeguard not saving a drowning person).
What must the prosecution prove in result crimes?
That the defendant’s conduct:
Factually caused the result using the “but for” test
Legally caused the result by being a substantial and operating cause
What are key principles for legal causation?
Must be a substantial cause
Must be a culpable act
Need not be the sole cause
What is a novus actus interveniens?
A new act or event that breaks the chain of causation, relieving the defendant of liability.
When can medical negligence break the chain of causation?
Only if the negligence is so independent and potent as to render the defendant’s act insignificant.
Can the acts of third parties break the chain of causation?
Only if they are free, informed, and deliberate
When can the victim’s own acts break the chain?
Only if the response is not reasonably foreseeable
Requires disproportionate or “daft” action to break the chain
Does refusal of medical treatment break the chain?
No. Defendant must take their victim as they find them
Does suicide break the chain?
Depends on foreseeability and causal significance
What is the thin skull rule?
Defendant must take their victim as they find them – both in body and mind.
What is the general rule about omissions in criminal law?
There is no liability for failing to act unless a legal duty to act exists
When does a legal duty to act arise?
Statute
Special relationship
Voluntary assumption
Contractual duty
Creation of danger
Public office
What are the main types of mens rea?
Intention (direct or oblique)
Recklessness
Knowledge and belief
Dishonesty
Negligence
What is direct intent?
Where the result is the defendant’s aim or purpose
What is oblique intent and when does it arise?
When the result is not aimed at but is a virtual certainty, and D appreciates this
Is oblique intent a definition of intention?
No – it is evidence of intention.
What is the role of motive in criminal law?
Motive is not the same as intention but can be evidence of it.
What is recklessness in criminal law?
D is reckless if:
- D foresaw a risk of harm; and
- It was unreasonable in the circumstances to take that risk
Does recklessness require subjective awareness?
Yes. The jury considers the risk known to the defendant, not risks unknown to D.
What is the rule of coincidence in criminal law?
Actus reus and mens rea must coincide in time. Two principles allow flexibility:
Continuing act
One transaction
What is transferred malice?
When D’s intent to harm X is transferred to actual harm caused to Y
Does not apply if the mens rea is for a different crime
How does mistake affect criminal liability?
Ignorance of the law is no excuse
A mistake of fact or civil law may negate mens rea
