CRW2601 Notes
🟦 UNIT 1: Introductory Topics
🔑 Main Idea: To convict someone of a crime, 4 elements must be present ✅
🧩 1. The 4 Elements of Criminal Liability:
1️⃣ Conduct – A voluntary human act or omission
2️⃣ Definitional Elements – Act must match the definition of a crime
3️⃣ Unlawfulness – Act must not be justified
4️⃣ Culpability – The person must be blameworthy (intent or negligence)
🪜 Order Matters! Always check elements in order. If the first is missing, stop there! 🚫
🟧 UNIT 2: The Principle of Legality
🛡️ Core Principle: A person can only be punished if the law clearly said so before they
acted.
🧠 5 Latin Rules:
1. ⚖️ Ius Acceptum – Only recognised law creates crimes
2. ⏳ Ius Praevium – No retroactive crimes (can’t punish for past innocent acts)
3. 📢 Ius Certum – Law must be clear, not vague
4. 🧷 Ius Strictum – Interpret laws narrowly (in favour of the accused)
5. 🚫 Nulla poena sine lege – No punishment without a clear legal rule
📌 Why It Matters: Ensures fairness, democracy, and protects against abuse of power.
🟩 UNIT 3: The Act (Conduct)
🦶 Key Point: There must be a voluntary physical act or legal omission.
🔍 Types of Conduct:
● ✅ Voluntary Act – Under control of will
● 🛌 Involuntary Acts – e.g. sleepwalking = no crime
● ⛔ Omission – Only punishable if there was a legal duty to act
🏃♂️💨 No act = no crime. Even if someone dies, if X didn’t act, and had no duty to, X isn’t
guilty.
🟨 UNIT 4: Definitional Elements & Causation
🧾 Definitional Elements: The official ingredients of a specific crime
📌 Example: Robbery = violent theft of property from a person
1
,🔗 Causation (when crimes result in harm like death):
1. 🔍 Factual causation – "But for X’s action, would Y have died?"
2. ⚖️ Legal causation – Is it fair to hold X responsible?
🏁 Conclusion: X must cause the result both factually and legally to be guilty.
🟥 UNIT 5: Unlawfulness I – Private Defence
🛡️ Unlawfulness = No valid justification = Crime ❌
✅ Valid Justification: Private Defence
Defending yourself or someone else is not unlawful if:
⚠️ There’s an unlawful attack
🔄 Defence is necessary
1.
⚖️ Force used is reasonable & proportional
2.
3.
❌ No defence if the attack already ended or force used was excessive.
📘 LEARNING UNIT 6: Unlawfulness II – More Justifications
🎯 Topic: Sometimes, an act that looks unlawful isn’t, if it meets a ground of justification.
🛑 Necessity = You break the law to avoid bigger danger (e.g. smash a window to escape a
fire).
🤝 Consent = If someone agrees to it, it might not be unlawful (e.g. sports injuries).
🙋♂️ Presumed consent = Person likely would have agreed (e.g. unconscious person needing
surgery).
🧑✈️ Obedience to orders = You might not be guilty if you followed an official order.
👮♀️ Official capacity = Police and doctors often have special legal leeway.
👨👩👧👦 Disciplinary chastisement = Hitting children? 🚫 Not allowed anymore — even parents
can’t.
🪶 Triviality = So minor that the law ignores it (like stealing a single jellybean 🍬).
📘 LEARNING UNIT 7: Culpability & Criminal Capacity
🎯 Culpability = Being blameworthy or responsible for your actions.
🧠 You must:
1. Understand right from wrong
2. Control your actions
🧩 If not, you might have no criminal capacity.
2
, ⚖️ Defences:
● ❌ Mental illness (covered in Unit 8)
● 😵 Non-pathological incapacity (e.g. emotional stress)
● 👶 Youth (also Unit 8)
📘 LEARNING UNIT 8: Mental Illness & Youth
🧠 Mental illness = If someone has a severe mental condition, they may not be held liable.
🧪 Two-part test (from law):
● Pathological leg: Medical disorder
● Psychological leg: Can’t understand or control actions
👩⚖️ If successful, court may send them to a psychiatric hospital instead of prison.
👶 Children:
● Under 10: Never guilty – too young.
● 10–13: Might be guilty if they knew right from wrong.
● 14+: Treated more like adults, but still considered minors.
📘 LEARNING UNIT 9: Intention I – What Is "Intention"? 🤔
🎯 Intention = "Dolus"
💡 Requires:
1. Cognitive: Knows what they’re doing
2. Conative: Wants the result to happen
🔍 Types of intention:
● 🔥 Direct intention (dolus directus): Meant it (e.g. planned to kill)
● 🎯 Indirect intention (dolus indirectus): Knew result would happen but did it anyway
● 💥 Dolus eventualis: Took the risk and accepted it
❤️ Intention ≠ Motive: Why someone did it doesn’t change the fact that they meant to do it.
📘 LEARNING UNIT 10: Intention II – Mistake 😬
🧠 Mistake can cancel intention!
🙈 If someone made a real mistake about:
● What they were doing
● Who or what they were affecting
● Whether the act was lawful
Then they might not have had intention.
3
🟦 UNIT 1: Introductory Topics
🔑 Main Idea: To convict someone of a crime, 4 elements must be present ✅
🧩 1. The 4 Elements of Criminal Liability:
1️⃣ Conduct – A voluntary human act or omission
2️⃣ Definitional Elements – Act must match the definition of a crime
3️⃣ Unlawfulness – Act must not be justified
4️⃣ Culpability – The person must be blameworthy (intent or negligence)
🪜 Order Matters! Always check elements in order. If the first is missing, stop there! 🚫
🟧 UNIT 2: The Principle of Legality
🛡️ Core Principle: A person can only be punished if the law clearly said so before they
acted.
🧠 5 Latin Rules:
1. ⚖️ Ius Acceptum – Only recognised law creates crimes
2. ⏳ Ius Praevium – No retroactive crimes (can’t punish for past innocent acts)
3. 📢 Ius Certum – Law must be clear, not vague
4. 🧷 Ius Strictum – Interpret laws narrowly (in favour of the accused)
5. 🚫 Nulla poena sine lege – No punishment without a clear legal rule
📌 Why It Matters: Ensures fairness, democracy, and protects against abuse of power.
🟩 UNIT 3: The Act (Conduct)
🦶 Key Point: There must be a voluntary physical act or legal omission.
🔍 Types of Conduct:
● ✅ Voluntary Act – Under control of will
● 🛌 Involuntary Acts – e.g. sleepwalking = no crime
● ⛔ Omission – Only punishable if there was a legal duty to act
🏃♂️💨 No act = no crime. Even if someone dies, if X didn’t act, and had no duty to, X isn’t
guilty.
🟨 UNIT 4: Definitional Elements & Causation
🧾 Definitional Elements: The official ingredients of a specific crime
📌 Example: Robbery = violent theft of property from a person
1
,🔗 Causation (when crimes result in harm like death):
1. 🔍 Factual causation – "But for X’s action, would Y have died?"
2. ⚖️ Legal causation – Is it fair to hold X responsible?
🏁 Conclusion: X must cause the result both factually and legally to be guilty.
🟥 UNIT 5: Unlawfulness I – Private Defence
🛡️ Unlawfulness = No valid justification = Crime ❌
✅ Valid Justification: Private Defence
Defending yourself or someone else is not unlawful if:
⚠️ There’s an unlawful attack
🔄 Defence is necessary
1.
⚖️ Force used is reasonable & proportional
2.
3.
❌ No defence if the attack already ended or force used was excessive.
📘 LEARNING UNIT 6: Unlawfulness II – More Justifications
🎯 Topic: Sometimes, an act that looks unlawful isn’t, if it meets a ground of justification.
🛑 Necessity = You break the law to avoid bigger danger (e.g. smash a window to escape a
fire).
🤝 Consent = If someone agrees to it, it might not be unlawful (e.g. sports injuries).
🙋♂️ Presumed consent = Person likely would have agreed (e.g. unconscious person needing
surgery).
🧑✈️ Obedience to orders = You might not be guilty if you followed an official order.
👮♀️ Official capacity = Police and doctors often have special legal leeway.
👨👩👧👦 Disciplinary chastisement = Hitting children? 🚫 Not allowed anymore — even parents
can’t.
🪶 Triviality = So minor that the law ignores it (like stealing a single jellybean 🍬).
📘 LEARNING UNIT 7: Culpability & Criminal Capacity
🎯 Culpability = Being blameworthy or responsible for your actions.
🧠 You must:
1. Understand right from wrong
2. Control your actions
🧩 If not, you might have no criminal capacity.
2
, ⚖️ Defences:
● ❌ Mental illness (covered in Unit 8)
● 😵 Non-pathological incapacity (e.g. emotional stress)
● 👶 Youth (also Unit 8)
📘 LEARNING UNIT 8: Mental Illness & Youth
🧠 Mental illness = If someone has a severe mental condition, they may not be held liable.
🧪 Two-part test (from law):
● Pathological leg: Medical disorder
● Psychological leg: Can’t understand or control actions
👩⚖️ If successful, court may send them to a psychiatric hospital instead of prison.
👶 Children:
● Under 10: Never guilty – too young.
● 10–13: Might be guilty if they knew right from wrong.
● 14+: Treated more like adults, but still considered minors.
📘 LEARNING UNIT 9: Intention I – What Is "Intention"? 🤔
🎯 Intention = "Dolus"
💡 Requires:
1. Cognitive: Knows what they’re doing
2. Conative: Wants the result to happen
🔍 Types of intention:
● 🔥 Direct intention (dolus directus): Meant it (e.g. planned to kill)
● 🎯 Indirect intention (dolus indirectus): Knew result would happen but did it anyway
● 💥 Dolus eventualis: Took the risk and accepted it
❤️ Intention ≠ Motive: Why someone did it doesn’t change the fact that they meant to do it.
📘 LEARNING UNIT 10: Intention II – Mistake 😬
🧠 Mistake can cancel intention!
🙈 If someone made a real mistake about:
● What they were doing
● Who or what they were affecting
● Whether the act was lawful
Then they might not have had intention.
3
