Crimes and Criminal Behaviours Flashcards

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers the definitions and classifications of crime, the elements of criminal liability, legal defences, and sociological theories regarding criminal behavior as presented in the lecture notes.

Crime

Any act against the norms, values, and laws of a society that is punishable by that society; it violates the basic values and/or beliefs of a particular society.

$$Actus\,non\,facit\,reus\,nisi\,mens\,sit\,rea$$

A Latin maxim meaning "an act does not make a man guilty of a crime unless his mind be also guilty."

Actus Reus

The Guilty Act; the elements of a crime other than the mental element.

Mens Rea

The Blameworthy State of Mind.

Relevant Consent

Cases where consent by the victim is an essential ingredient of the actus reus, such as in the offence of rape.

Causation

The requirement in criminal law to prove that the conduct of the accused caused the specific consequences or occurrences defined in the actus reus.

Omission

A failure to take action where that action is required by law, which may give rise to criminal responsibility in exceptional cases such as parental duties.

Intention

When an accused person does or abstains from doing acts with the goal that certain consequences shall follow, such as intending to permanently deprive an owner of property in theft.

Negligence

When a man does not foresee the possibility of a consequence occurring when, as a reasonable man, he ought to have foreseen it.

Recklessness

Doing an act which, in fact, created an obvious risk that property would be destroyed or damaged.

Blameless Inadvertence

When a person reasonably fails to foresee a consequence following from his act or reasonably fails to consider the possibility of a circumstance.

Absolute Offences

Offences where there is no need to show Mens Rea because the statute simply states the act shall or shall not be done (e.g., illegal possession of a firearm).

Vicarious Offences

Offences where one person is legally responsible for the acts of another, typically occurring within the scope of employment or delegated authority.

Treason

A group of crimes against allegiance to the crown.

Felony

Crimes generally of a more serious nature for which a wide power of arrest without warrant is given at common law.

Misdemeanor

Less serious crimes for which there is no power of arrest without warrant.

Indictable Offences

Offences for which there is provided either trial on indictment only, or both trial on indictment and trial before a Magistrates’ Court.

Summary Offences

Offences for which there is provided either trial before a Magistrate’ Court only, or both trial before a Magistrates’ and trial on indictment.

Mischievous Discretion

The legal standard that must be proved for infants aged 10–14 years to be held criminally liable.

Automatism

An act done by the muscles without any control by the mind, described as a sudden loss of control or an attack of illness producing involuntary movements.

Marital Coercion

A defence under the Criminal Justice Act, 1925, where a wife proves she committed a crime (except treason or murder) in her husband’s presence and under his coercion.

McNaghten Rules

The 1843 rules governing the defence of insanity, requiring the accused to show a defect of reason from disease of the mind such that they did not know the nature of the act or that it was wrong.

Natural Laws

Laws that are the same across the world according to the nature of human beings, such as the worldwide belief that harming someone is bad.

Social Disorganization Theory

A theory describing the inability of community members to achieve shared values or solve problems, focusing on high crime rates in areas with economic deprivation and residential mobility.

Conservative Stance

A viewpoint that prefers the existing order of society, focuses on crime control and harsher punishments, and avoids using tax dollars for social programs.

Lawful Excuse

If there is a lawful excuse for doing an act there is no actus reus and therefore no crime. For example: -

• It is an offence to procure the abortion of a woman under the Offences Against the Person Act, 1861.

• A lawful excuse is now provided for this offence by the Abortion Act, 1967, provided that certain conditions are satisfied.

• Lawful excuse is now provided for certain minor offences. It is an offence to exceed the speed limit but under certain conditions not for Police, fire and ambulance vehicles.