AQA A Level Law- Criminal Law Study Questions with Answers

Crime Conduct which is prohibited by the state and has penal consequences Actus Reus A prohibited voluntary act or omission that causes harm to another Mens rea The mental element (guilty mind) or the fault element in an offence individual autonomy The capacity of a rational individual to make an informed, un-coerced decision maximum certainty A key legal concept. The legal system should be clear to allow the public to regulate their conduct with certainty as to what is legal and what is not correspondence A person should only be convicted of a crime where the actus reus matches the required mens rea Fair labelling Ensure that the criminal conduct in question matches the offence and the sentence given retrospective legislation Acts of Parliament that are made to apply to conduct that existed before the statute. There is a presumption that statutes do not generally create retrospective liability. omission the failure to act which can result in criminal liability conduct crime Prove the act happened e.g., prove that the defendant appropriated property belonging to another in theft result crime prove the act and the specific outcome as a result of the the act e.g., prove application or threat of unlawful force as well as injury to the victim in assault occasioning actual bodily harm state of affairs crime Prove that a set of circumstances exist e.g., prove that the defendant had possession of drugs Voluntariness The requirement that a defendant's act be the product of his own will. If D has no control over his actions then he has not committed the AR.