Criminal Law Defences & Principles – Lecture Review

Fill-in-the-blank flashcards covering key principles, statutory provisions and case law on self-defence, consent, duress, necessity, insanity, automatism, intoxication and criminal attempts.

Self-defence is codified under __ of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008.

section 76

The first question in assessing self-defence is whether the use of force was __ in the circumstances.

necessary

Under s.76(4) CJIA 2008, a genuine mistake is judged according to the facts as the defendant __ them to be.

believed

s.76(5) CJIA 2008 confirms that a mistake caused by voluntary intoxication __ be relied upon.

cannot

According to __, a pre-emptive strike can still amount to self-defence.

Beckford

In __, force used on an attacker who was running away was held unlikely to be necessary.

Hussain

Under s.76(6) CJIA 2008, force is not reasonable if it is __.

disproportionate

s.76(7)(a) adopts Lord Morris’s statement in __ that one cannot “weigh to a nicety” the exact amount of force.

Palmer

Householders’ force is reasonable so long as it is not __ disproportionate.

grossly

AG Ref (No 6 of 1980) states that you cannot consent to __ or above unless a recognised exception applies.

Actual Bodily Harm (ABH)

In __, a risky tackle within a football match was held to fall within the defence of consent.

Barnes

Branding a wife’s buttocks was treated like tattooing and consented to in __.

Wilson

Sadomasochistic group activity could not be consented to in __.

Brown

A mistaken belief in consent to rough horseplay can be a defence according to __ & Others.

Jones

Consent must be informed; transmission of HIV invalidated consent in __.

Dica

Submission is not the same as consent, as illustrated in __.

Olugboja

Fraud as to the nature and quality of the act vitiated consent in __ (breast-cancer ‘research’).

Tabassum

The two-part test for duress by threats was restated in __ (2005).

Hasan

__ holds that threats must be connected to the specific crime demanded.

Cole

The ‘immediate’ requirement for duress was relaxed to ‘imminent’ in __.

Abdul Hussain

The objective limb of the Graham test asks how a sober person of __ firmness would act.

reasonable

Low IQ is not a relevant characteristic for duress, as held in __.

Bowen

Duress is unavailable for murder, confirmed in the case of __.

Howe

Joining a violent gang voluntarily prevents using duress, as in __.

Hasan

The famous necessity case that failed after cannibalism at sea is __.

Dudley and Stephens

Necessity requires that the evil inflicted must not be __ to the evil avoided.

disproportionate

Life-saving separation of conjoined twins was allowed under necessity in __.

Re A

Duress of circumstances was recognised in the reckless-driving case of __.

Willer

For insanity, D must show a ‘defect of reason’ caused by a __ of the mind.

disease

A complete loss of reasoning power requirement was clarified in __.

Clarke

Hardening of the arteries amounted to a disease of the mind in __.

Kemp

Sleep-walking was classified as insanity in __.

Burgess

Knowing an act is legally wrong defeats insanity, as shown in __.

Windle

Automatism requires ‘total destruction of voluntary control’ according to __.

Attorney General’s Reference (No 2 of 1992)

Low blood sugar (hypoglycaemia) from insulin is treated as __ automatism.

non-insane

Voluntary intoxication is no defence to basic-intent offences, confirmed in __.

Majewski

Taking LSD then killing while hallucinating led to manslaughter not murder in __.

Lipman

A drugged intent is still intent, as established in __.

Kingston

Unexpected aggressive effects of prescribed Valium gave a defence in __.

Hardie

Under s.1 Criminal Attempts Act 1981, the act must be ‘more than merely __’.

preparatory

__ defined ‘embarking upon the crime proper’ for attempts.

Gullefer

Standing outside a post office with a gun and note was merely preparatory in __.

Campbell

Climbing into a car and pointing a loaded gun was enough for attempt in __.

Jones

Attempt requires intention, endorsed in __ (1975).

Mohan

Attempting an impossible crime can still be liable, as in __.

Shivpuri

Believing smuggling currency was illegal when it was not led to acquittal in __.

Taafe

For self-defence, there is no __ to retreat, though it is relevant.

duty

If any force is excessive, self-defence fails, as in __.

Clegg

Evidence of an attempt to retreat is desirable but not essential, according to __.

Bird

A mistaken belief caused by intoxication cannot found self-defence, as held in __.

O’Grady

Use of force on an innocent third party to prevent crime was allowed in __.

Hichens

s.76(7)(b) CJIA 2008 states that acting honestly and __ can strongly indicate reasonableness.

instinctively

Two boys aged 12 and 13 lacked capacity to consent to tattooing in __.

Burrell v Harmer

Children under 12 can never consent to sex under section __ of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

5

Female genital cutting is criminalised under the __ Act 2003.

Female Genital Mutilation

Duress of circumstances is unavailable for murder, as confirmed in __.

Pommell

Automatism caused by an external blow to the head is classed as __ automatism.

non-insane

If automatism is self-induced through voluntary behaviour, the defence fails according to __.

Bailey

Automatism leads to acquittal, whereas insane automatism results in a verdict of ‘not guilty by reason of __’.

insanity

Voluntary intoxication may give a partial defence to specific intent crimes because there is often a __ offence.

fallback

s.76(6A) CJIA expressly states there is __ duty to retreat.

no

For duress the threat must be of death or __ injury.

serious

Threats to reveal information alone were insufficient in the case of __.

Valderamma-Vega

Where D could reasonably have escaped, duress failed, as in __.

Gill

Voluntary association with drug dealers prevented duress in __.

Flatt

Hypoglycaemia leading to assault from insulin misuse was treated as non-insane automatism in __.

Quick

s.1 Criminal Attempts Act 1981 addresses crimes of __ impossibility.

factual

The ‘agony of the moment’ allowance in self-defence originates from Lord Morris in __.

Palmer

‘Defect of reason’ refers to an inability, not merely a failure, to __.

reason

Insanity must be proved on the __ of probabilities.

balance

For murder, a successful insanity plea requires a hospital order with __ discharge.

indefinite

Muscles acting without any control by the mind was described by Lord Denning in __.

Bratty

If D retains partial control, as in AG Ref (No 2 of 1992), automatism __.

fails

Householders may use force that is disproportionate but not __ disproportionate.

grossly

Consent is never a defence to __, as confirmed in Pretty.

murder

Children under 16 with sufficient intelligence can consent to treatment according to __ competence.

Gillick

Section 58 of the Children Act 2004 allows reasonable and proportionate __ chastisement.

physical

AG Ref (No 6 of 1980) said it is not in the public interest that people should cause each other bodily harm for __.

no good reason

Involuntary intoxication may arise from spiked drinks or unexpected effects of __ drugs.

prescription