CRW1501 Exam Pack with Criminal Law
Concepts and Cases
Principle of Legality - No crime exists without law's existence.
Positive Conduct - Action taken by an individual in criminal law.
Negative Conduct - Failure to act when required by law.
Omission - Punishable failure to act under moral duty.
Legal Cause - X's act directly leads to Y's death.
Condicio Sine Qua Non - Necessary condition for a situation to exist.
Private Defence - Legal justification for defending oneself or others.
Unlawful Attack - Attack that violates legal rights or interests.
Limits of Private Defence - Exceeding reasonable force in self-defense is unlawful.
Necessity - Justification for unlawful acts to prevent harm.
Emergency Situation - Circumstances requiring immediate action to avoid harm.
Legal Provision Violation - Breaking a law under necessity circumstances.
Mokgethi Case - Legal precedent on proximate cause theory.
Proximate Cause Theory - Legal causation theory applied in criminal cases.
Criminal Liability - Responsibility for committing a criminal act.
Codified Law - Laws systematically arranged in a code.
Uncodified Procedure - Procedures not formally written in law.
Roman-Dutch Common Law - Legal system influenced by English law post-annexation.
Interpretation of Crime - Courts interpret crime definitions broadly.
Statement Verification - Process of confirming the correctness of legal statements.
Legal Maxim - A general principle or rule of law.
,Emergency Action - Immediate response to prevent greater harm.
Consent - Agreement that allows actions without legal repercussions.
Ground of Justification - Legal basis for excusing criminal conduct.
Culpability - Responsibility for a criminal act.
Criminal Capacity - Mental ability to understand criminality.
Intention - Mental state directing actions towards a result.
Cognitive Element - Understanding of the act's nature and consequences.
Conative Element - Willful direction towards an act or result.
Direct Intention - Purposefully aiming to achieve a specific outcome.
Indirect Intention - Foreseeing a result as a consequence of actions.
Common Law - Law derived from judicial decisions and customs.
Legislation - Laws enacted by a governing body.
Criminal Liability - Legal responsibility for committing a crime.
Legal Duty - Obligation to act according to law.
Act vs. Conduct - 'Act' excludes omissions; 'conduct' includes both.
Legal Causation - Establishing a direct link between act and outcome.
Adequate Causation - Act must be necessary for the outcome.
Competent Person - Individual authorized to give lawful orders.
Moral Wrongness - Conduct deemed wrong but not legally prohibited.
Omission - Failure to act when legally required.
Perpetrator - Individual or entity committing the act.
Medical Consent - Patient's agreement for medical procedures.
Obedience to Orders - Following commands as a justification for actions.
, Vague Crimes - Crimes defined imprecisely, leading to ambiguity.
Novus actus interveniens - An act that is expected and usual.
Private defence - Self-defence, also protecting others' interests.
Putative private defence - Belief in self-defence without actual justification.
Interests protected by private defence - Life or physical integrity only.
Necessity - Acting to protect another's interests in emergencies.
Successful necessity - Emergency must be expected or terminated.
Legal compulsion and necessity - Cannot claim necessity if legally compelled.
Consent in theft - Consent can justify theft and property damage.
Boni mores - Legal convictions of society determining consent validity.
Violent consent - Consent obtained through violence is not voluntary.
Obedience to orders - Subordinate must obey lawful orders from superiors.
Ground of justification for orders - Order-giver must be lawfully authorized.
Harm in obedience - Cannot cause more harm than necessary.
Criminal capacity - Mental abilities required for culpability and liability.
Defences excluding criminal capacity - Mental illness and youthful age are two
defences.
Forms of culpability - Intention and causation are key culpability forms.
Direct intention - Causing forbidden result is not the main aim.
Conative element of intention - Knowledge of act and its unlawfulness.
Forms of intention - Includes direct, indirect, and dolus eventualis.
Dolus eventualis - Intention where harm is foreseen but accepted.
Indirect intention - Harm is a secondary consequence of the act.
Culpability - Responsibility for a crime based on mental state.
Concepts and Cases
Principle of Legality - No crime exists without law's existence.
Positive Conduct - Action taken by an individual in criminal law.
Negative Conduct - Failure to act when required by law.
Omission - Punishable failure to act under moral duty.
Legal Cause - X's act directly leads to Y's death.
Condicio Sine Qua Non - Necessary condition for a situation to exist.
Private Defence - Legal justification for defending oneself or others.
Unlawful Attack - Attack that violates legal rights or interests.
Limits of Private Defence - Exceeding reasonable force in self-defense is unlawful.
Necessity - Justification for unlawful acts to prevent harm.
Emergency Situation - Circumstances requiring immediate action to avoid harm.
Legal Provision Violation - Breaking a law under necessity circumstances.
Mokgethi Case - Legal precedent on proximate cause theory.
Proximate Cause Theory - Legal causation theory applied in criminal cases.
Criminal Liability - Responsibility for committing a criminal act.
Codified Law - Laws systematically arranged in a code.
Uncodified Procedure - Procedures not formally written in law.
Roman-Dutch Common Law - Legal system influenced by English law post-annexation.
Interpretation of Crime - Courts interpret crime definitions broadly.
Statement Verification - Process of confirming the correctness of legal statements.
Legal Maxim - A general principle or rule of law.
,Emergency Action - Immediate response to prevent greater harm.
Consent - Agreement that allows actions without legal repercussions.
Ground of Justification - Legal basis for excusing criminal conduct.
Culpability - Responsibility for a criminal act.
Criminal Capacity - Mental ability to understand criminality.
Intention - Mental state directing actions towards a result.
Cognitive Element - Understanding of the act's nature and consequences.
Conative Element - Willful direction towards an act or result.
Direct Intention - Purposefully aiming to achieve a specific outcome.
Indirect Intention - Foreseeing a result as a consequence of actions.
Common Law - Law derived from judicial decisions and customs.
Legislation - Laws enacted by a governing body.
Criminal Liability - Legal responsibility for committing a crime.
Legal Duty - Obligation to act according to law.
Act vs. Conduct - 'Act' excludes omissions; 'conduct' includes both.
Legal Causation - Establishing a direct link between act and outcome.
Adequate Causation - Act must be necessary for the outcome.
Competent Person - Individual authorized to give lawful orders.
Moral Wrongness - Conduct deemed wrong but not legally prohibited.
Omission - Failure to act when legally required.
Perpetrator - Individual or entity committing the act.
Medical Consent - Patient's agreement for medical procedures.
Obedience to Orders - Following commands as a justification for actions.
, Vague Crimes - Crimes defined imprecisely, leading to ambiguity.
Novus actus interveniens - An act that is expected and usual.
Private defence - Self-defence, also protecting others' interests.
Putative private defence - Belief in self-defence without actual justification.
Interests protected by private defence - Life or physical integrity only.
Necessity - Acting to protect another's interests in emergencies.
Successful necessity - Emergency must be expected or terminated.
Legal compulsion and necessity - Cannot claim necessity if legally compelled.
Consent in theft - Consent can justify theft and property damage.
Boni mores - Legal convictions of society determining consent validity.
Violent consent - Consent obtained through violence is not voluntary.
Obedience to orders - Subordinate must obey lawful orders from superiors.
Ground of justification for orders - Order-giver must be lawfully authorized.
Harm in obedience - Cannot cause more harm than necessary.
Criminal capacity - Mental abilities required for culpability and liability.
Defences excluding criminal capacity - Mental illness and youthful age are two
defences.
Forms of culpability - Intention and causation are key culpability forms.
Direct intention - Causing forbidden result is not the main aim.
Conative element of intention - Knowledge of act and its unlawfulness.
Forms of intention - Includes direct, indirect, and dolus eventualis.
Dolus eventualis - Intention where harm is foreseen but accepted.
Indirect intention - Harm is a secondary consequence of the act.
Culpability - Responsibility for a crime based on mental state.
