Legal Studies U1 Aos2

what is a crime

an act or omission that is against an existing law, harmful to an individual or society and is punishable by law

Purposes of criminal law

protect individuals

promote justice

protect society

protect property

Purpose: protect individuals

aims to safeguard individuals from harm by deterring and punishing behaviors that threaten personal safety and well-being

Purpose: promote justice

seeks to ensure that justice is served by holding offenders accountable for their actions and providing fair and impartial trials

Purpose: protect society

by defining and penalizing criminal behavior, criminal law helps maintain public order and safety, thereby protecting society as a whole

Purpose: protect property

aims to protect property rights by penalizing theft, vandalism, and other offences that infringe on individuals or entities property.

How criminal law achieves its purposes?

establishes the law

enforces the law

decides who is guilty

imposes sanction on offenders

How criminal law achieves its purposes: Establishes the law

establishes law through statutes made by parliament and through court decisions

How criminal law achieves its purposes: Enforces the law

enforces law through Victoria police and other bodies given power to enforce criminal law

How criminal law achieves its purposes: Decides who is guilty

decides who is guilty through courts

How criminal law achieves its purposes: Imposes sanctions on offenders

aim, among other things to punish offenders and deter others from committing crime

presumption of innocence

• a guarantee to a person accused of a crime that they are entitled to be treated as and considered to be innocent, until a charge against them is proved beyond reasonable doubt

  • we would prefer 10 guilty men to go free than imprison one innocent person

  • state has unlimited resources and by comparison the individual has nothing, so something has to address the power imbalance.

presumption of innocence explained

• if a person is accused of a crime that person does not have to prove he/she is innocent. it is the job of the prosecution to prove the accused is guilty

• decision of magistrate and jury to impartially consider strength of evidence and decide whether a person is guilty beyond reasonable doubt

features protecting presumption of innocence

• burden of proof

• standard of proof

• right to bail

• right to legal representation

• right to silence

• previous convictions

• right to appeal

features protecting presumption of innocence: burden of proof

prosecution is responsible for proving the case, not the responsibility of the accused to prove their innocence

features protecting presumption of innocence: standard of proof

the case against a person must be proved beyond reasonable doubt

• there is no other logical explanation for the conduct other than the accused was responsible for committing that crime

features protecting presumption of innocence: right to bail

a person who has been arrested and charged generally has the right to apply for bail, and should be guaranteed bail, unless circumstances which mean bail can’t be granted

features protecting presumption of innocence: right to legal representation

a person has the right to legal representation in court

• in some situations when accused has been charged with a serious offence, the court can stay the proceedings until such a time that the accused has obtain legal rep ( a skilled qualified legal practitioner to represent the offender)

  • enhances objectivity

features protecting presumption of innocence: previous convictions

a persons previous convictions are not revealed in court until sentencing process begins

features protecting presumption of innocence: right to appeal

a person has the right to appeal a wrongful conviction

features protecting presumption of innocence: right to silence

an accused person has the right to silence

• no inference can be drawn about their guilt through their silence

Elements of a crime

actus reus

mens rea

actus reus

the physical element of a crime

it refers to the actions (or in actions) that a person needs to engage in to be found guilty of an offense.

mens rea

the mental element of a crime

• refers to a persons state of mind when they were engaging in the actions or inactions

• mens rea is often expressed using words such as knowingly, intentionally, maliciously, recklessly, negligently, willfully

Strict Liability

• no mental element in their legal definition

• e.g. running a red light, selling alcohol to minors

Age of Criminal Responsibility

• whether a child will be charged with an offence depends on their age:

  • a person under 10 y.o cannot be charged with a crime

  • doli incapax: a person aged 10-13 will be charged with a crime if prosecution can prove that the child knew at the time of the crime, that their actions were wrong

    • depends on age, upbringing, prior criminal history, medical/psychological reports, what child said/did before/during/after a crime

  • people aged 14 yo are criminally liable for their actions

doli incapax

considered incapable of committing an action with criminal intent

Standard of Proof

the strength of evidence needed to prove a legal case

• beyond reasonable doubt

  • reasonable doubt must be reasonable/realistic not unrealistic

  • must be: there is no other logical explanation other than the accused was responsible for the crime

why is the standard of proof so high

b/c the consequences of being found guilty are so severe that the justice system needs to be as certain as possible that the accused is guilty.

Burden of Proof

• refers to the party that has the responsibility to prove the facts of the case

• prosecution

• usually is the person/party who is bringing the case

burden of proof reversed

• responsibility of accused to prove case

• drugs on hand, or pleading certain defense

types of crime

the social purpose of the offense

the type of offender or victim

the seriousness of the crime

social purpose:

crimes against a person: homicide, assault

property and deception offences: arson, property damage, burglary, theft

type of offender/victim

cyber-crime

hate crime

organised crime

juvenile crime

Summary Offences

• minor offenses generally heard in the Magistrates court

• less serious types of crime

• e.g. drink driving, disorderly conduct

• no jury, determined by magistrate

• contained in Summary Offences Act 1966 (vic)

• less complex court procedures: quicker resolution of cases and reduces burden on higher courts

Indictable Offences

• serious criminal offenses are heard by a judge or jury

• heard in county or supreme court of Vic

• e.g. murder, manslaughter, culpable driving, arson

• indictable offenses have a committal hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence to proceed to trial in a higher court

  • ensures only cases with enough evidence go to trial, saves time and resources

Indictable Offences heard Summarily

• allows some indictable offenses to be heard and determined summarily

• classed as indictable but less serious in nature

  • can be heard as if they are minor offense in magistrates

• less serious end of spectrum

• e.g. robbery, burglary, aggravated burglary

• benefits legal system and accused

  • quicker resolution of cases, reduces backlog in higher courts, less sever penalties

    • balances need for efficiency with seriousness of offense

Principal Offender

• the main perpetrator of the offense

  • has committed actus reus, and has mens rea when committing crime

• directly responsible for the criminal act, and is the primary focus of the prosecution

Involvement in a crime

• any person who is involved in a crime, is also to be considered a principal offender

  • a person who intentionally assists, encourages or directs another person to commit a crime

  • still accountable for crime even if did not commit actus reus themselves

Accessory

a person who knowingly assists another who has committed a serious indictable offence to avoid being apprehended, prosecuted, convicted or punished

accessory explained

• must do something to try and stop offender from being arrested (helps offender evade justice)

• can be found guilty regardless of whether principal offender is also found guilty

  • therefore law recognises significant role accessory plays in criminal process by holding them accountable for aiding principal offender

Elements of Murder

1. The Killing was Unlawful

2. The victim was a human being

3. the accused was a person over the age of discretion

4. the accused caused the victims death

5. the accused was of sound mind

6. malice aforethought

1. The Killing was Unlawful

lawful killing includes army, police officer in line of duty, person acting in self-defense

The victim was a human being

must be a living person - not an animal or unborn baby

the accused was a person over the age of discretion

must be over 10 y.o

the accused caused the victims death

• the accused actions must have contributed significantly and substantially to a person’s death (causation)

  • causation: there must be a direct link between the accused actions and the death of the victim (usually decided by jury)

• if something intervenes to break causal link between accused’s actions and death, then accused may not be guilty of murder

the accused was of sound mind

the prosecution must establish that the accused was a person of sound mind

• is a person who knows right from wrong, and understands nature of what they have done

• a person of unsound mind cannot cannot form intention to commit a crime (mens rea) as they dont understand what they are doing

malice aforethought

the consious intent to cause death or grevious bodily harm to another person before a person commits the crime

• if person unintentionally kills another person while committing violent crime, may be charged with murder

Defenses to murder

• self defense

• mental impairment

• duress

• sudden or extraordinary emergency

• involuntary actions (automatism)

• accident

self defense

accused must believe the conduct is necessary to defend themselves or another person from death or serious injury

• perceived their actions to be a reasonable response in the circumstances

mental impairment

if at the time of the offense accused was suffering from mental impairment, so they did not understand the nature or quality of their actions

• also did not know conduct was wrong or couldn’t think about their conduct like an ordinary person

must be proved by party who raises it

court may impose secure treatment order

• a sanction that requires the accused to be compulsorily detained, and receive treatment, at a mental health service

duress

aplies if accused reasonably believed that death or serious injury would occur to themself or another person if they did not commit the offense

• committing act was only reasonable way to avoid that happening

• must be reasonable to threat

duress means forcing someone to carry out a particular act

sudden or extraordinary emergency

may be relied upon if accused’s actions are carried out in circumstances of sudden or extraordinary emergency

• conduct is the only reasonable way to deal with emergency

automatism

the accused committed the crime involuntarily due to having, at the time of the offense total loss of control over their bodily movements, and so could not form an intention to commit a crime (mens rea)

automatism is raised when accused commits a crime while:

• while sleepwalking

• while suffering from concussion

• epileptic seizure

Intoxication

at the time of the offense they acted involuntarily or without content due to being in an intoxicated state as a result of consuming alcohol/drugs

• intoxication must not be self-induced

accident

the actions the accused took to commit the offense were involuntary, unintentional or reasonably unforeseeable by an ordinary person

murder

an unlawful killing of another person with malice aforethought, by a person who is of the age of discretion and of sound mind

• part of crimes known as unlawful homicide

Impact of murder on victim/friends/family

• loss of life

• emotional trauma/grief/shock

• stress

• loss of trust in law

• psychological issues

Impact of murder on community

• cost of publicly funded medical treatment

• increased need for police, fire and emergency services

• trauma to emergency services working incident

• loss of confidence in legal system

Impact of murder on offender

• guilt/shame in causing death

• legal costs

• custodial sentence

• loss of household income if imprisoned

• negative influences due to exposure to prison

Culpable driving

the act of causing death/serious injury of another person while driving a motor vehicle in a negligent or reckless manner or while under the influence

Elements of Culpable Driving

1. the accused was the driver of a motor vehicle

2. the accused culpably caused the person’s death death while driving a motor vehicle

the accused was the driver of a motor vehicle

accused must have had substantial control over movement of a motor vehicle

the accused culpably caused the person’s death death while driving a motor vehicle

culpably: responsibility for a fault or wrong

• must have been driving the vehicle in these ways

  • recklessly: consciously and unjustifiably disregarding a substantial risk that someone could die or be seriously injured e.g. driving at high speeds

  • negligently: failing to an unacceptable degree, to observe reasonable standard of care expected of a driver in similar circumstances

    • others in the community have a right to respect e.g. driving while extremely fatigued

  • driving under influence of alcohol/drugs: driver cannot properly control vehicle

Defenses to culpable driving

duress

sudden or extraordinary emergency

automatism

victim/family