Provocation. The provocative act must cause the defendant to suddenly and temporarily lose their self control as shown in R v Duffy. Evidence to show that Eleanor lost her temper is the fact that in a state of agitation, she bought a container of flammabl

Provocation: Exam Question 2002 Provocation is a special defence. This means it is only available to a defendant if they have been charged with Murder, it cannot be used for any other offence, and if it is successful the defendant will be convicted of manslaughter rather than murder. The provocative act can be anything said (R v Newell) or done, and the acts can be directed at or not at the defendant (R v Davies). The relevant case here is R v Davies where the provocative act was not directed at the defendant because the defendant saw his wife (victim) with her "friend" outside the library, merely seeing this was enough provocation for the defendant to shoot his wife. Similarly, Eleanor was convinced that Fiona and Gordon were making a lot of noise in order to disturb her, even though Fiona and Gordon were unaware that Eleanor was angry with them. This was therefore an indirect act but provocative enough for Eleanor to carry out the unlawful act. The provocative act must cause the defendant to suddenly and temporarily lose their self control as shown in R v Duffy. Evidence to show that Eleanor lost her temper is the fact that in a state of agitation, she bought a container of flammable liquid. If an apparently small incident causes the defendant to kill then the jury may doubt whether there had been a loss of control because the provocative act was so trivial such

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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Critically evaluate the law on intention as part of mens rea

Critically evaluate the law on intention as part of mens rea By Rebecca Haworth The mens rea is the Latin for guilty mind and refers to the state of mind of the accused at the time the actus reus is committed. Intention is a subjective concept; what the actual defendant was thinking at the time of the offence as opposed to objective which is what a reasonable person would have thought in the same position. Intention is the highest form of mens rea and an example of this is in the case of theft. The mens rea of theft is intention to deprive someone of property permanently. Without the intent to take the property the defendant is not guilty of the crime. This is shown in the case of Madeley where he was able to show that he was suffering from stress and merely forgot to pay for the goods and he was found not guilty. It is important to distinguish the intent from the motive of the crime as shown in the case of R v Gray where a father smothered his son to death. The motive of his actions was that his son was in agony and dying from an illness, however this is not relevant to the mens rea. His intention to kill his son on the other hand is relevant to the mens rea and made him guilty of murder. Intention can be oblique or direct. Direct intent is where the defendant actually desires the consequences of their actions. Oblique intention gives the concept of intent a wider

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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Barristers, solicitors, legal executives

Law Homework [1] A) Outline the stages in training and qualifying as a solicitor (10 marks) Solicitors are general practitioners of the legal world, dealing with all kinds of legal problems. There are around 100,000 solicitors and their governing body is the Law Society, which supervises training and discipline. There are three parts in becoming a solicitor which are academic training, vocational training and a training contract. Academic training is the starting point which involves a person successfully completing a qualifying law degree (law graduate route) or by completing a non-law degree course followed by a Common Professional Examination (CPE) or a Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL), which is a non-law graduate route. The next part in becoming a solicitor is the vocational training. This is a one year Legal Practice Course, designed to provide professional training and advocacy skills. This course cost around £5,000 and teaches solicitors how to apply the law to the need of clients. After passing the Legal Practice exams the next stage is to enter a two-year period of practice based training under a training contract, usually in a solicitor firm. Trainee solicitors will work in at least three area's of law such as personal injury law, convayancing and company law. The areas depend on the nature of the firm and the interests and needs of the trainee. Skills are

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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Illustrate the ways in which different sentences may be used to support different aims of sentencing.

Illustrate the ways in which different sentences may be used to support different aims of sentencing. Introduction There are many sentences available which judges can give in both the Magistrates Court and the Crown Court. These various options mean that they can specifically support a particular aim of sentencing, in this essay I will examine how the different types of sentencing is used to support an aim of sentencing. For example a lengthy custodial sentence will be given to an offender who the court feels needs retribution or an offender will be given a community service order if the court feels the person needs to repay society in some way. Custodial Sentences Custodial sentences can be given to support a number of things, firstly, the obvious aim of sentencing it looks to support is retribution, the idea that an offender must simply be punished for the crime that he has committed. However a custodial sentence must only be given if the court feels a community service order or a fine is not a strict enough punishment. Custodial sentences also play a big part in both deterring the person from committing the crime again and also deterring other people from committing the crime, as they see that the person who got caught for this offence has been given a custodial offence, whereas if the person only got given a non custodial sentence then they may not be put off as much.

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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Crime Definitions and the extent of crime

Crime Definitions and the extent of crime The definition of crime stands to be" an action or an instance of negligence that is deemed injurious to the public welfare or morals or to the interests of the state and that is legally prohibited." (Dictionary.com) When looking at the British crime survey (BCS) and then looking at police records it showed up that there should be about 50% more recorded crime from the British crime survey that just the police recorded alone. If you looked at the stats that the British crime survey produced just for England and Wales it calculates that in 2006/2007, there were 726,000 burglaries. On the other hand the police statistics for 2006/2007 are 300,500 burglaries. This proves that the BCS has about 50% more recorded crimes throughout England and Wales. There are different reasons for why the crime statistics from the police and the BCS are different. To have a crime booked and recorded the must be victims, Witnesses, injuries, certain laws to be broken or the criminal to be caught. If you take into account that there are 60 million people living in England and Wales, on average there is £50-£60 million spent on crime. This show that on average every tax payer pays abut £1000 per year just due to crime. There is 5.5 million recorded offences by the police while the BCS reckon that there are 10.9 million offences committed each year.

  • Word count: 945
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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Rules of Causation Case. Jess throws paint in Sams eyes. Sam had to go to hospital to have paint removed from his eyes. On the way home, just before his sight was fully recovered, he tripped on the kerb and fractured his skull.

Jess throws paint in Sam's eyes. Sam had to go to hospital to have paint removed from his eyes. On the way home, just before his sight was fully recovered, he tripped on the kerb and fractured his skull. - Outline the rules of causation and briefly discuss whether Jess caused Sam's fractured skull (7 marks) Once it has been established that the defendant performed the act, the prosecution must prove that it was the defendant's conduct which caused those consequences to occur. The prosecution has to show that the defendant's conduct was the factual cause of that consequence, the defendant's conduct was in law the cause of that consequence and there was no intervening act which broke the chain of causation. There are two types of causation, factual causation, the defendant can only be guilty if the consequences would not have happened but for this act. An example of this is, R v Pagett, the defendant used his girlfriend as a human shield against police fire. He shot at the police, they fired back, killing his girlfriend. But for his actions she wouldn't have died. This relates to the scenario because but for Jess throwing paint in Sam's eyes, he would not have been partly sighted and tripped on the kerb resulting in a fractured skull. Causation in law, the defendant's actions must be the operating and substantial cause. An example of this is, R v Smith, two soldiers were

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Current system for granting or refusing bail.

a) Describe the current system for granting or refusing bail Bail can be granted by the police, magistrates, and the crown court. Bail is granted when a suspected offender is not remanded in custody. They are usually at liberty until the next stage of the case, usually trial. The Bail Act 1976 states that there is a presumption in favour of bail, but for an offence while already on bail, bail will only be given if the court is satisfied there are no significant risks of re-offending. There must also be exceptional circumstances for bail to be granted for murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, rape or attempted rape where the defendant has already served a custodial sentence for such an offence. These conditions are set out in s.56 of the Crime and Disorder act 1998. Bail can also be outright refused if there are reasonable grounds for believing that the defendant would fail to surrender, would commit further offence, or would interfere with witnesses. Bail can be unconditional where they will assume that the defendant will turn up, or there can be conditions imposed. One may be a surety, where someone will be ordered to take responsibility if the person does not turn up to trial, and will have to pay a sum of money to the courts. This promise is known as a recognisance and no money will be paid unless the defendant fails to answer his bail. Other conditions that may be

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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intoxication as a defence

Evaluate the effectiveness of intoxication as a defence. Defendants can be intoxicated by the consumption of alcohol and/or the use of drugs. Intoxication can only be used as a defence when the defendant can show that he or she was incapable of forming the mens rea of the offence that he or she is charged with. If the defendant was still able to form the necessary mens rea even whilst intoxicated, the defence would not apply. Even when the defendant proves that they did not possess mens rea, they can still be found liable for certain crimes. A distinction between specific intent and basic intent crimes has been made by courts. A specific intent crime is where the mens rea is the only intention. Examples include murder, theft, burglary and robbery. Voluntary and involuntary intoxication both provide a defence to specific intent crimes. In basic intent crimes, the mens rea can include recklessness. Examples include involuntary manslaughter, battery and assault. Defence to a specific intent crime is not available if the defendant has been reckless whilst voluntarily intoxicated however; involuntary intoxication does provide a defence to basic intent crimes. Voluntary intoxication is available only to specific intent crimes if the defendant is incapable of forming the necessary mens rea. 'Dutch courage', the act of deliberately intoxicating yourself in order to

  • Word count: 861
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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Murder and Voluntary manslaughter - analysis of cases and the plea of involuntary manslaughter.

Murder and Voluntary manslaughter Murder: The unlawful killing of a reasonable person in being under the kings or queens peace with malice aforethought, express or implied. Actus rues of murder: unlawful killing- 'unjust killing': This means that a death was caused by another person, without lawful excuse . This includes murder and manslaughter and causing death by dangerous driving. However the death may be the result not of a positive act but of an omission, or a failure to act. A reasonable person in being; those concerning the opposite ends of human existence . Human, homoisapian, brain-dead human. Foetus is not human. 'Under the queens peace': the killing of an enemy in war is not murder, as such a person us not 'under the queens peace'. It would, however, be considered the Actus Reus of murder to kill a prisoner of war. Causation: Causation is the link between the defendants act and the criminal consequence. The rules are applied to decide whether the defendants guilty act caused the required consequence in the definition of a particular crime Causation : Causation is the link between the defendants act and the criminal consequence. The rules are applied to decide whether the defendants guilty act caused the required consequence in the definition of a particular crime Factual causation: the defendant can only be found guilty if the consequence would not have

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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Murder - Notes and Evaluation.

Murder Murder is a common law offence; it has been defined by the decisions of judges in cases and the accepted definition is based on one given by Lord Coke. This is that murder is 'the unlawful killing of a human being under the Queen's peace with malice aforethought, express or implied'. In order for the actus reus to be fulfilled, the following principles must be satisfied : 1.) The defendant must do an act 2.) Which is unlawful 3.) which substantially causes the death of the victim 4.) who was a human being. There used to be a further requirement - that the victim had to die within a year and a day of his last injury by the defendant. This was abolished in 1996. .) The defendant must do an act To be guilty of murder the Defendant must have been proven to have done a voluntary act, although manslaughter can also consist of an omission. This can arise when the Defendant is under a legal duty to act but fails to do so, as in the following situations - Special legal relationship, e.g. Gibbons & Proctor (loco parentis), Statutory Duty, e.g. Road Traffic Act 1972, Voluntary undertaking, Employment duties and Accidental act which creates a dangerious situation. It is very unusual for a charge of murder to be based upon an ommission. 2.) Which is unlawful The act or omission that causes the victims death must be unlawful. It is not unlawful if what is done is in

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