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Criminal Law: Concepts & Terminology

113 cards · 🇺🇸 English

Core criminal-law concepts: actus reus/mens rea, causation, offenses, defenses, punishment and jurisdiction.

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Criminal law

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  1. 1Criminal law
    The body of law that relates to crime and proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or endangering to property, health, safety, and welfare of people
  2. 2criminal law vs civil law
    Criminal law focuses on punishment and rehabilitation, while civil law emphasizes dispute resolution and victim compensation
  3. 3Criminal procedure
    A formalized official activity that authenticates the fact of commission of a crime and authorizes punitive or rehabilitative treatment of the offender
  4. 4Five objectives of criminal law enforcement
    Retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation, and restoration
  5. 5Retribution in criminal law
    The principle that criminals ought to be punished to 'balance the scales' - punishing those who have taken improper advantage or inflicted unfair detriment
  6. 6Individual deterrence
    Imposing a sufficient penalty to discourage the specific offender from future criminal behavior
  7. 7General deterrence
    Imposing penalties on offenders to discourage other individuals in society from committing similar offenses
  8. 8Incapacitation in criminal punishment
    Keeping criminals away from society through prison, capital punishment, or banishment to protect the public from their misconduct
  9. 9Rehabilitation as a criminal law objective
    Transforming an offender into a valuable member of society by convincing them their conduct was wrong to prevent further offenses
  10. 10Restoration in criminal justice
    A victim-oriented theory that aims to repair any injury inflicted upon the victim through state authority, such as requiring an embezzler to repay stolen amounts
  11. 11Actus reus
    Latin for 'guilty act' - the physical element of committing a crime, accomplished by action, threat of action, or omission to act
  12. 12Mens rea
    Latin for 'guilty mind' - the mental element of a crime, meaning an intention to commit some wrongful act
  13. 13What must be present for a crime to occur regarding actus reus and mens rea?
    Both elements must be present at precisely the same moment; sequential occurrence at different times is not sufficient
  14. 14Can an omission to act constitute actus reus?
    Yes, when there is a legal duty to act, such as a parent's failure to give food to a young child
  15. 15Ways a duty of care can arise for actus reus by omission
    Through contract, voluntary undertaking, blood relation with whom one lives, official position, or creating a dangerous situation
  16. 16But for test in criminal causation
    A test requiring that the person's action must be the cause without which the harm would not have occurred
  17. 17Proximate cause in criminal law
    A requirement that the act must have 'more than a slight or trifling link' to the harm caused
  18. 18Thin skull rule
    The principle that causation is not broken simply because a victim is particularly vulnerable
  19. 19What can break the chain of causation?
    An intervening act (novus actus interveniens) of a third party, the victim's own conduct, or another unpredictable event
  20. 20Intention different from motive in criminal law
    Intention is the mental element required for a crime, while motive is the reason behind the action (motive is separate and not required)
  21. 21Recklessness in criminal law
    When a defendant recognizes an act is dangerous but decides to commit it anyway - a lower threshold of mens rea than intent
  22. 22Doctrine of transferred malice
    If a person intends to harm one person but accidentally harms another, the mens rea transfers to the person actually harmed
  23. 23Strict liability in criminal law
    Criminal liability notwithstanding the lack of mens rea or intent by the defendant - requiring only proof of the prohibited act
  24. 24Example of a strict liability offense
    Driving a vehicle with an alcohol concentration above the prescribed limit under the Road Traffic Act 1988
  25. 25Required for a murder conviction
    An unlawful killing with malice - killing committed with specific intent to kill or conscious recognition that death or serious bodily harm will result
  26. 26Manslaughter
    A lesser variety of killing committed in the absence of malice, brought about by reasonable provocation or diminished capacity
  27. 27Involuntary manslaughter
    A killing that lacks all but the most attenuated guilty intent - involving recklessness rather than intent
  28. 28Crime of battery
    An unlawful touching (excluding everyday knocks and jolts to which people silently consent in crowds)
  29. 29Assault in criminal law
    Creating a fear of imminent battery
  30. 30Rape in criminal law
    Non-consensual sexual intercourse - a particularly egregious form of battery

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