paper 1 non fatal offences against the person

assault

defined in common law under s39 criminal justice act 1988

actions of words that cause v to apprehend immediate unlawful force (smith v woking police)

MR- intentionally causing v to apprehend immediate unlawful force or recklessly causing v to apprehend immediate unlawful force (Logdon)

Battery

defined in common law s39 criminal justice act 1988

AR- applying unlawful force to another person (collins v wilcock)

an omission can also cause battery (Santana Bermudez )

MR- intentionally applying unlawful force to v or recklessly applying unlawful force to v (Venna)

Assault occasioning actual bodily harm

s47 offences against the person act 1961

AR- assault or battery which causes ABH

must be an AR of either assault or battery (miller)and ABH can include psychiatric injury (Ireland)

MR- intentionally or recklessly causing v to apprehend immediate unlawful force or intentionally applying unlawful force to v (savage)

maliciously wounding or inflicting Grievous bodily harm

s20 offences against the persons act 1861

AR- wounding or inflicting GBH

breaking 2 layers of the skin amounts to Wounding (Eisenhower)

MR - intentionally causing some harm or recklessly causing some harm

not necessary to intend serious harm or realise there is a risk only some harm (parmenter)

wounding or causing grievous bodily harm with intent

s18 offences against the person act 1861

AR- wounding or causing Grievous bodily harm (Eisenhower)

MR - intention to cause GBH

or intention to resist arrest (Morrison )

MR usually occurs where D intends to cause serious injury (Belfon) confirms recklessness as to causing serious injury is not enough

intention can be direct or indirect

evaluation of non fatal offences (assault and battery)

s39 criminal justice act 1988 doesn’t make it clear assault and battery are two different offences causing confusion by referring them as common assault

terms assault and battery are not defined- we rely on common law for their meaning

most people think assault means physical attack and not just a threat, and think battery means severe beating not just touching

evaluation of s47 assault occasioning actual bodily harm

assault is misleading as battery can also cause the basis of an offence

occasioning an old fashioned word for causing

actual bodily harm is not defined in the OAP act 1861 and the statute leaves the MR unclear

AR and MR of s47 do not correspond, there is no mr required relation to the injury meaning D is guilty for the outcome of their actions rather than what they foresaw (savage)

this is unfair as it goes against the principles of people should only be responsible for what they foresaw

however constructive intent forces people to take accountability for their actions ensuring victims get justice

sentence jumps from 5 years even though D may not have intended or foreseen a risk of injury

evaluation of s20 maliciously wounding or inflicting GBH

the phrase grievous bodily harm is an old fashioned term relying on case law for a definition

the inclusion of wound theoretically includes minor injuries but minor injuries can be treated as GBH

s20 says maliciously wounding without explaining the meaning, malicious suggest evil intent when it actually means intention or recklessness

confusion over the verb inflict, it just means cause

AR and MR do not correspond , d doesn’t need to foresee serious injury just some harm meaning they are guilty for the outcome rather than what they intended or foresaw

sentence is the same as s47 even though a much more severe injury is caused

evaluation of s18 maliciously wounding or causing GBH with intent

the verb cause is used in s18 but inflict is used in s20 and confusion occurs as to whether they mean the same thing

in s18 D must intend GBH but they also add the word maliciously whack adds nothing in most cases

Ds who wound or cause GBH whilst resisting arrest are charged with the same crime as those who set out to cause serious injury. where D is resisting arrest they only need to foresee the risk of some harm (Morrison) showing the mr is unbalanced

the max sentence jumps to life even though the injury is the same as s20

ideas for reform eval

update confusing language- assault and battery could be renamed as threatened assault and physical assault

the phrases ABH and GBH could be dropped in favour of injury and serious injury

the verb causes should be used consistently across all offences

provide a clear hierarchy of defences - threatened assault and physical assault should still have a max sentence of around 6 months

law commission proposed splitting s47 into 2 new offences aggravating assault and intentionally/ recklessly causing injury

ensure offences conform to the correspondence principle - each offence should provide a clear and accurate label for the conduct

new s47 should require D to intend or foresee the risk of injury which would be more fair

the new s20 should require D to be reckless as to serious injury. Foresight of some harm should no longer be enough