Principles of criminal law
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Principles of criminal law
（Clarendon law series）
Clarendon Press , Oxford University Press, 1991
- : pbk
Available at / 25 libraries
-
No Libraries matched.
- Remove all filters.
Note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Description and Table of Contents
- Volume
-
ISBN 9780198761440
Description
The foremost aim of this book is to raise questions about the doctrine as well as the rules of criminal law and to examine some of the principles and policies at work in the shaping of the criminal law by the legislature, the courts, the law reform bodies, and academic commentators. This process of examination does not start from the assumption that the criminal law is grounded in a stable set of established doctrines. A more realistic view is that the arguments and assumptions which influence the development of the criminal law form a disparate group, sometimes conflicting and sometimes invoked selectively.;One task is to identify the principles and policies which appear to play a major part, sometimes a part not openly avowed in the reasoning of the courts or the commentators. Then questions are raised about each of these doctrines. Are they soundly based, in moral or social terms? How are they related to the proper aims, forms, and limits of the criminal sanction in modern Western societies? Are there other principles and policies which would be more appropriate?
For example, many writers on English criminal law, and some judges, assume, often with little discussion, that fairne
- Volume
-
: pbk ISBN 9780198761457
Description
The foremost aim of this book is to raise questions about the doctrine as well as the rules of criminal law and to examine some of the principles and policies at work in the shaping of the criminal law by the legislature, the courts, the law reform bodies, and academic commentators. This process of examination does not start from the assumption that the criminal law is grounded in a stable set of established doctrines. A more realistic view is that the arguments and assumptions which influence the development of the criminal law form a disparate group, sometimes conflicting and sometimes invoked selectively. One task is to identify the principles and policies which appear to play a major part, sometimes a part not openly avowed in the reasoning of the courts or the commentators. Then questions are raised about each of these doctrines. Are they soundly based, in moral or social terms? How are they related to the proper aims, forms, and limits of the criminal sanction in modern Western societies? Are there other principles and policies which would be more appropriate?
For example, many writers on English criminal law, and some judges, assume, often with little discussion, that fairness requires that noone should be convicted of a criminal offence unless he or she intended it and knew of the circumstances or at least realized the risk of harm resulting. This "subjective" principle may then be used as a criterion for determining whether certain defences to crime should or should not be admitted: the tendency is to stress logic or consistency, arguing (or assuming) that the culpability requirements should be the same for all forms of offence. The approach here is to raise questions about such sequences of assumptions. Are there not powerful arguments for restrictions based on "social defence" or "welfare"? Do such arguments apply more to some crimes than to others? Are there compelling objections to a system of criminal law which imposes duties on citizens in certain circumstances? But then assertions about "social defence" should not be taken at face value either: it is important to enquire whether certain restrictions really would advance the cause of social defence. The legal focus of this book is upon English criminal law.
There are references to the American Law Institute's Model Penal Code, but in general the available space has been used to state and to raise questions about English law rather than to attempt a comparative survey. The focus is upon what may be termed middle-range principles and policies, which may be used to link the rules of the criminal law to views about its social function, about the relative importance of particular values and harms, about the strength of various excuses and justifications for causing harm, about the proper division of functions between the legislature and the judiciary, and about the proper classification of offences.
Table of Contents
- Part 1 Criminal justice and the criminal law: the contours of criminal liability
- the reality of criminal law
- outline of the aims and functions of the criminal law
- criminal law and sentencing. Part 2 Harm and offence seriousness: what behaviour should be regarded as criminal?
- policies of restraint
- the relevance of seriousness
- varieties of harm
- the search for principles. Part 3 Principles and policies: rules and practices
- the outer limits of the criminal law
- fairness principles. Part 4 Criminal conduct: the general part of the criminal law
- the principle of individual autonomy
- personality
- acts, states of affairs and omissions
- involuntary conduct
- causation
- justifiable conduct
- justification, necessity and the balance of interests. Part 5 Positive fault requirements: the issues
- some general principles
- varieties of fault
- the referential point of fault. Part 6 Negative fault requirements: grounds of excuse
- mental disorder
- intoxication
- provocation
- putative defences
- ignorance or mistake of law
- entrapment
- fault and the excuses. Part 7 Homicide: death and finality
- requirements of criminal homicide
- defining murder - the inclusionary question
- defining murder - the exclusionary question
- "involuntary manslaughter"
- endangerment on the roads
- endangerment on other situations. Part 8 Non-fatal violations of the person: varieties of physical violation
- reported physical violations
- offences of physical violation
- reported sexual assaults
- non-consensual sexual intercourse
- incest
- parameters of the law of sexual assault. Part 9 Offences of dishonesty: the offence of theft
- robbery
- blackmail
- burgulary
- handling stolen goods
- deception offences
- fraud offences
- dishonesty, deception, and desert. Part 10 Complicity: distinguishing principals from accessories
- the conduct element in complicity
- common purposes and liability for the unexpected
- derivative liability and the missing link
- withdrawal from participation. Part 11 Inchoate offences: the concept of an inchoate offence
- the justification for penalizing attempts at crimes
- the elements of criminal attempt
- the justifications for an offence of conspiracy
- the elements of criminal conspiracy
- incitement
- voluntary renunciation of criminal purpose
- the relationship between substantive and inchoate crimes
- the place of inchoate liability.
by "Nielsen BookData"
