Module Information

1. The Nature of Criminal Law
(The meaning and scope of crime; The role of Criminal Law in society; Fundamental principles of criminal law)

2. Elements of a Criminal Offence
(Actus Reus (Commission and omission; State of affairs offences; Conduct and result crimes; Causation; Voluntariness and automatism); Mens Rea (Different forms of mens rea; Intention; Foresight; Recklessness (Cunningham and Caldwell distinguished); Crimes of Strict Liability; Negligence)

3. Homicide
(Varieties of unlawful homicide; Murder; Killing as a result of a loss of control; Killing due to diminished responsibility; Constructive manslaughter; Reckless manslaughter; Gross negligence manslaughter)

4. Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person
(Assault and battery; Assault occasioning actual bodily harm; Wounding and grievous bodily harm; Other violent offences)

5. Sexual Offences
(Rape; Unlawful sexual intercourse and other sexual offences)

6. Theft and Offences Against Property
(Theft; Robbery; Burglary; Making off without payment; Fraud offences)

7. Inchoate Offences
(Assisting and encouraging; Common law and statutory conspiracies; Attempt)

8. Participation in Crime
(Aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring; Mens rea of participants; Withdrawal from participation; Joint enterprise)

9. Capacity and Defences
(Mental illness/insanity; Intoxication; Self defence; Duress; Necessity; Mistake; Automatism)

The course will not attempt to deal with all or even most of the specific offences known to English and Welsh law. There are too many such offences. The emphasis is on the underlying principles. Can criminal liability be incurred without proof of fault or of criminal intent? Will a person be deemed to "intend" a consequence where he knew it to be an inevitable side effect of his intended behaviour? Can ignorance of the law ever amount to a defence? What if a person sets out to commit a certain crime, but abandons the idea before completing it?

Although the emphasis is on general principles, these cannot be taught or understood without reference to specific offences, and a significant number of these offences will be studied in depth. Homicide, for example, can be used to illustrate and explain a wide range of principles. Killings may be lawful or unlawful; deliberate or accidental; pre-meditated or the result of sudden provocation. The killer may be drunk or sober or insane; the victim may die at once, or may die later as the result of medical negligence.

There is another reason for studying a fairly wide range of offences. A criminal lawyer needs to be aware of the fact that, where one offence cannot be made out on the evidence available, it is possible that another, slightly different offence can be made out. A charge of aggravated burglary might succeed where one of robbery would fail.

The course exposes students to complex problems of statutory interpretation, and requires the study of a great deal of case law, much of it contradictory and unsound. Students must be prepared to question and criticise the law, whilst at the same time attempting to understand it.