Introduction to Criminal Law

Transcription

1 Broad Curriculum Law, Introduction to Criminal Law Module details and outline Learning Outcomes Having successfully completed this module, students should be able to: Identify criminal laws by synthesising primary materials such as parliamentary statutes and appellate court judgments; Apply criminal law doctrine, precedent, and statute for the purpose of assessing criminal liability; Critically analyse doctrines and principles of substantive criminal law; Engage in detailed critical analysis of serious offences such as murder and defences to these offences. Teaching: 2 hours of lectures per week Assessment: Problem question A 20%, Essay 40%, Problem question B 40% ECTS: 5 Module capacity: 100 students Lecturer Dr David Prendergast LLB (Dub), LLM (Lond), PhD (Dub), Barrister-at-Law (King s Inns) Assistant Professor, School of Law, Trinity College Dublin Office: Room 2.5, House 39, New Square, Trinity College Dublin Phone: david.prendergast@tcd.ie

2 Introduction to Criminal Law, BCLaw, Introducing criminal law module objectives and content This module will introduce the operation of criminal liability in the Irish legal system. The module is both practical and theoretical. It is practical in that you will develop skills to identify the criminal law on an area and apply it to factual scenarios. The module is theoretical in that you will explore and develop critical perspectives on various aspects of criminal law. The module is concerned with substantive criminal law. Substantive criminal law refers to the definitions of specific offences and the operation of rules of criminal liability; hence, we study how the law requires certain acts or external events combined with certain states of mind as prerequisite for criminal guilt. Substantive criminal law is distinguished from procedural criminal law. Procedural criminal law is the law governing the processes of trial and punishment for criminal wrongdoing. While aspects of criminal procedure and rules of evidence (such as the role of the jury, sentencing options, admissibility of evidence, and so on) will be mentioned frequently, the focus of the module is not on the criminal process. The Introduction to Criminal Law module will involve studying judgments of the Irish courts and courts in other jurisdictions in past criminal cases. In studying criminal cases we read what the judges say about the law and its application in the case at hand. This means that the focus is not on questions of historical fact such as who really committed the crime, the accuracy of forensic evidence, and so on, but rather on questions of law such as: whether it is murder to end the life of someone who is about to die anyway; whether you can be convicted for a crime you performed while so drunk that you didn t really know what you were doing; whether you can be guilty of a crime for accidentally polluting a river. Finally, it can be noted that the approach that we take is to interrogate and critically analyse the existing doctrines of substantive criminal law. Our aim is not just to be clear about what the law is, but also to critically evaluate its rationale.

3 Introduction to Criminal Law, BCLaw, Assessment Assessment for BCLaw is through three compulsory coursework assignments: 1. Problem Question A counts for 20% of the overall mark for the module; the word limit is 800 words, including references; due in late October Essay counts for 40%; word limit: 1600 words; due mid-late November Problem Question B counts for 40%; word limit: 1500 words; due before the end of the semester. These three assignments are compulsory and, therefore, in accordance with the Broad Curriculum regulations, if fewer than three are completed, the maximum mark that can be returned for a student is 39%. The problem questions require your legal advice on a fictitious criminal case. You will have to advise on the potential criminal liability of the characters involved in the factual scenario supplied to you. The essay will be a critical evaluation of an aspect of substantive criminal law or provide a theoretical argument about substantive criminal law. A small number of potential essay titles will be provided. You can choose one of these or you can construct an essay title of your own. It may be the case that your preferred topic does not have a ready-made essay title supplied, in which case you will construct your own essay title. For constructing your essay title, you must get your proposed title approved by the lecturer. Key to note is that the essay must contain an argument (a central claim plus the reasoning grounding it) and this argument must connect with the essay title. Class time, and a short manual, will provide guidance on how to research and write a legal opinion (for problem questions) and how to write a law essay. There will also be optional essay and problem questions, which students can complete and obtain feedback on. This will be useful ahead of the completion of the compulsory, formally assessed Assignments.

4 Introduction to Criminal Law, BCLaw, More details about the assignments will be provided early in the module. Submission will involved uploading a soft copy to Turnitin and handing in a hardcopy of the work. Module requirements No prior knowledge or experience of law is required to take the module; it is an introductory module. The basics not just of criminal law, but also, where needed, of law generally will be engaged with. Classes will involve discussion, exercises, debate and analysis; a willingness to participate in such class activities is essential. A certain amount of material on the reading list is essential reading, but it is carefully selected so that reading requirements will not be burdensome. Students taking this module will need to access two main sources of law, cases and statutes, and two main sources of academic writing on law, journal articles and books. All except books and a very small portion of the other things are available online, either freely or through TCD Library s subscriptions. Publications of the Law Reform Commission of Ireland can be freely downloaded at A manual on using the law library and accessing legal sources online will be supplied. The online learning space, Blackboard, will be utilised for placing class materials such as power point slides and cases that are difficult to obtain. You are not required to purchase anything for the module. However, if you do wish to purchase a book on criminal law in Ireland, the most useful texts for this module are Conor Hanly, An Introduction to Irish Criminal Law (Gill and MacMillan, 3 rd ed, 2015), Campbell, Kilcommins, and O Sullivan, Criminal Law in Ireland: Cases and Commentary (Clarus Press 2010) and McIntyre, McMullan, and O Toghda, Criminal Law (Round Hall 2012).

5 Introduction to Criminal Law, BCLaw, Broad Curriculum Law, Introduction to Criminal Law Module Outline * * Note: the following list is indicative of the content on the module; items may be added or subtracted. * * Part A: Introduction to Offences and the Criminal Law System Topic 1: Introduction: overview of criminal offences and criminal law A brief introduction to how criminal liability operates Difference between criminal wrongs and civil wrongs and difficulties in defining what a crime is The place of criminal law in the legal system: how criminal offences are made: legislation and judge-made law Applying precedent (past cases) and applying legislation (statutes) Constitutional restraints on what can be designated as criminal and ongoing debates about criminalisation Functions of the criminal law: form of social control (a system of rules): to regulate and prohibit; orders with punitive sanction behind them Deterrence, retribution and other principles of punishment Topic 2: the criminal law system and the criminal trial The main features of the criminal process Court structure trial courts and appeal courts Classification of crime: Summary offences and indictable offences Brief outline of trial procedure: prosecution and defence The presumption of innocence and the burden of proof

6 Introduction to Criminal Law, BCLaw, Rules of evidence: exclusionary rule and hearsay rule Sentencing procedure, policy, and principles Part B: Criminal Liability The General Part Topic 3: the actus reus the external elements of offences The concept of criminal liability; the way liability operates The actus reus (prohibited act) the mens rea (guilty mind) Offences and defences The principles and rules that apply to the actus reus Voluntariness: the need for a defendant to have been the author of his or her actions Causation: the need for a causal link between defendant s actions and a prohibited result, and the kind of intervening acts which are considered to break this link Liability for omissions: the extent to which you can be held criminally liable for not doing something as distinguished from doing something Topic 4: the mens rea culpability requirements of offences The concept of mens rea: the need for a person to be mentally culpable such that he or she can be said to be blameworthy or at fault in order for criminal liability to be imposed on him or her Different culpability states: intention, recklessness and others Intention: direct intention and oblique intention Recklessness: consciously taking an unjustifiable risk; advertent and inadvertent recklessness Strict liability: the extent to which you can be held liable for your actions in respect of which you are blameless or blameworthy to a relatively minor degree

7 Introduction to Criminal Law, BCLaw, The relevance of intoxication: might extreme drunkenness exculpate? The relevance of mistake: mistake of law and mistake of fact Topic 5: Relationship between external elements and mental elements of offences Coincidence of actus reus and mens rea Transferred malice Part C: General principles expanding and reducing criminal liability Topic 6: Secondary liability Liability for participation in crime: to aid, abet, counsel or procure a crime attracts criminal liability as if one performed the crime oneself Doctrine of common design: the extent to which you can be held liable for the actions of your associates when embarking together on a criminal enterprise Topic 7: Inchoate liability Criminal liability for attempting, inciting and conspiring to commit crimes So-called impossible attempts: is it attempted murder to shoot, with intent to kill, what is actually a dummy, mistakenly believing it s your enemy? Topic 8: Defences: infancy, insanity, self-defence, provocation, duress and necessity Child under 12 years not to be prosecuted (subject to exceptions) The legal concept of insanity and its relevance to criminal liability Diminished responsibility as a defence to murder

8 Introduction to Criminal Law, BCLaw, The limits of self-defence; killing in self-defence or legitimate defence Provocation as a defence to murder The defence of duress and its limits The scope for necessity to be a defence Part D: Criminal Liability the Special Part Topic 9: Homicide: Murder and Manslaughter The elements and scope of murder Manslaughter: Gross negligence manslaughter, and unlawful and dangerous act manslaughter