Criminal Law Week 1 Practice Flashcards

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers fundamental criminal law concepts, principles of punishment, legal maxims, and key precedents from the lecture transcript.

Criminal Law

Public offences against the wider community.

Public wrong

Wrongs against the state that are detrimental to society at large.

Private wrongs

Wrongs addressed through civil proceedings.

Principle of legality

A rule of law stating there is no arbitrary punishment and no one can be punished without due process. Criminal prosecution must be rooted in established, written law

Crime

A legal wrong followed by criminal proceedings that may result in punishment.

Statutory Law

Written law passed by a legislative body such as a parliament.

Common Law

Law that comes from judge-made court decisions.

Retribution

A principle aim of criminal law where crime warrants punishment as the cost of harm caused, affirming societal disapproval and acknowledging victim suffering.

Specific Deterrence

Setting a penalty level intended to discourage the specific offender from reoffending.

General Deterrence

Setting a penalty level intended to discourage others in society from committing similar offences.

Community protection

Protection of the public through incarceration, rehabilitation, and targeting root causes like mental illness or substance misuse.

Rehabilitation

A principle aim of criminal law intended to alter the behaviour of offenders.

Denunciation

A principle aim of criminal law intended to uphold morality.

Actus rea

Latin for "guilty act;" the physical component of a crime which may involve an action, omission, or circumstances like lack of consent.

Mens rea

Latin for "guilty mind;" the required criminal state of mind involving the exercise of free will and understanding of consequences.

Actus non facit reum nisi sit rea

A legal maxim meaning "an act does not make a person guilty unless the mind is also guilty."

Omission

A failure to act that is only criminal if a duty to act exists due to special relationships, statutory law, or creating a situation of danger.

Doli incapax

Latin for “incapable of crime”. A presumption that a person is unable to form criminal intention, applying to children under $12$ years.

Contemporaneity

The requirement that the actus rea and mens rea occur at the same time.

Legal burden of proof

The responsibility of establishing that a claim is true, which primarily falls on the prosecution.

Evidential burden of proof

The duty to present enough evidence to make a specific proposition arguable.

Standard of proof

The degree of persuasiveness required for evidence in criminal proceedings, defined as proof beyond reasonable doubt.

Summary offences

Less serious offences heard by magistrates without a jury, carrying a maximum sentence of $2$ years.

Indictable offences

More serious offences involving a jury trial and a sentence of $2$ years or higher.

Harm principle

A concept by John Stuart Mill stating the only legitimate reason to restrict individual freedom is to prevent direct harm to others.

R v Brown (1994)

A case involving consensual homosexual sexual violence where the majority ruled that public interest required criminal punishment despite consent.

Fagan v Met Police Commissioner (1968)

A case where a defendant accidentally drove onto an officer's foot but then refused to move, establishing that mens rea and actus rea were present during the ongoing interaction.

Woolmington v DPP

A case clarifying that the duty of proof lies with the prosecution and that an accused is entitled to acquittal if there is reasonable doubt regarding intent.