Practice notes
Specific intent—definitionOffences requiring specific intent are of two kinds:•where the mental element of the offence requires a purposive intent...
9th Apr
Practice notes
This Practice Note deals with what is meant by corporate liability in relation to criminal law. It covers establishing corporate liability, the...
9th Apr
Practice notes
What is recklessness?In respect of some statutory offences and common law crimes the prosecution are required to prove a mental element of...
9th Apr
Practice notes
What is vicarious liability?The general principle in criminal law is liability is personal not vicarious. This means that one person cannot be held...
9th Apr
Practice notes
OmissionA defendant must be shown to have had the relevant mental state of mind or intention at the time that the act comprising offence is committed....
9th Apr
Practice notes
Definition of automatismAn act is done in a state of automatism if it is done by the body without control by the mind, (eg it is a spasm or a reflex),...
9th Apr
Practice notes
Strict liabilityWhen an offence does not require proof of a mental element it is an offence of strict liability. There are some common law offences of...
9th Apr
Practice notes
Dishonesty is a state of mind, which is relevant for the purposes of some criminal offences. Dishonesty provides the principal form of mens rea for...
9th Apr
Practice notes
IntoxicationGeneral defences are those which arise from specific characteristics of the defendant or the circumstances of the offence which mean that...
9th Apr
Practice notes
Duress by threatsDuress by threats provides a complete defence to a charge of any offence other than murder, attempted murder and potentially treason....
9th Apr
Practice notes
Encouraging criminalityThe common law offence of incitement was abolished as of 1 October 2008, the date on which the Serious Crime Act 2007 (SCA...
9th Apr
Practice notes
Self defenceSelf defence is an absolute defence based on the evidence which can apply in crimes committed by force. Section 76 of the Criminal Justice...
9th Apr
Practice notes
Criminal offences are generally divided into two categories: •conduct crimes, and •result crimesA conduct crime is a crime where only the forbidden...
9th Apr
Practice notes
There are three main inchoate offences in English law: •conspiracy—where at least two people have agreed to commit a crime•attempt—where the defendant...
9th Apr
Practice notes
This Practice Note is concerned with secondary liability, sometimes called accessory liability: the liability that attaches to parties to a joint...
Produced in partnership with Joanne Cecil of Garden Court Chambers
9th Apr
Practice notes
The principle of transferred maliceIf a person has a malicious intent towards X and, in carrying out that intent, injures Y, he is guilty of an...
9th Apr
Practice notes
A person is guilty of attempting to commit an offence if he does an act that is more than preparatory to the commission of the offence, with the...
9th Apr
Practice notes
What is the defence of insanity?Insanity is a common law defence to a criminal charge. A defence of insanity is available in both the magistrates'...
9th Apr
Q&As
Historically, there was a distinction between felonies and misdemeanours, and it was necessary to distinguish, for felonies, between principals in the...
6th Dec
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Scottish Law
