Secondary Liability
Complicity
Accessories and Abettors Act 1861:
S8: “Whosoever shall aid, abet, counsel, or procure the commission of [any indictable offence] , whether the same be
[an offence] at common law or by virtue of any Act passed or to be passed, shall be liable to be tried, indicted, and
punished as a principal offender”
The same liability is given to those who: aid, abet, counsel or procure
How a co-defendant can be tried:
As a joint principal or principle
The defendant has played an active role in the actus reus of the offence committed
As an accessory
The defendant (D2) has aided, abetted, counselled or procured principle offender (PO or D1) in the acts from which the
offence was constructed
Who is the Principal?
The perpetrator of the crime – the person who commits the actus reus
Giannetto [1997]
Made threats to kill wife and paid a man (Welch) to kill her
Unable to establish who had actually killed his wife
D convicted of murder – either he or somebody acting on his behalf had killed his wife
Point for appeal: did it need to be clear that D was PO or an accessory?
Giannetto – Court of Appeal
The jury “were entitled to convict if they were all satisfied that if he was not the killer he at least encouraged the killing,
and accordingly this ground of appeal fails”
Jury must agree on two things:
The basis for which they find D guilty
Defendant must know what case he has to meet
Actus Reus
R v Jogee [2016] – updated the law on the actus reus of complicity
Principles of joint enterprise are the same as being an accomplice, so…
Assisting the commission of an offence
Encouraging the commission of an offence
S8 Accessories and Abettors Act 1861
There needs to be an offence committed by PO
The accomplice will be charged with the same offence as PO
Complicity
Accessories and Abettors Act 1861:
S8: “Whosoever shall aid, abet, counsel, or procure the commission of [any indictable offence] , whether the same be
[an offence] at common law or by virtue of any Act passed or to be passed, shall be liable to be tried, indicted, and
punished as a principal offender”
The same liability is given to those who: aid, abet, counsel or procure
How a co-defendant can be tried:
As a joint principal or principle
The defendant has played an active role in the actus reus of the offence committed
As an accessory
The defendant (D2) has aided, abetted, counselled or procured principle offender (PO or D1) in the acts from which the
offence was constructed
Who is the Principal?
The perpetrator of the crime – the person who commits the actus reus
Giannetto [1997]
Made threats to kill wife and paid a man (Welch) to kill her
Unable to establish who had actually killed his wife
D convicted of murder – either he or somebody acting on his behalf had killed his wife
Point for appeal: did it need to be clear that D was PO or an accessory?
Giannetto – Court of Appeal
The jury “were entitled to convict if they were all satisfied that if he was not the killer he at least encouraged the killing,
and accordingly this ground of appeal fails”
Jury must agree on two things:
The basis for which they find D guilty
Defendant must know what case he has to meet
Actus Reus
R v Jogee [2016] – updated the law on the actus reus of complicity
Principles of joint enterprise are the same as being an accomplice, so…
Assisting the commission of an offence
Encouraging the commission of an offence
S8 Accessories and Abettors Act 1861
There needs to be an offence committed by PO
The accomplice will be charged with the same offence as PO
