Blackmail is an offence covered by Section 21 of the Theft Act 1968.
Tajinder Singh Ranshi A2 Law – Blackmail Discuss the criminal liability of Debra Debra may have committed the offence of blackmail. Blackmail is an offence covered by Section 21 of the Theft Act 1968. The AR for the offence is the making of an unwanted demand with menaces. The MR is the intention of making an unwarranted demand with menaces with the view to gain or to cause a loss. The AR has been satisfied in the scenario, firstly by a demand. The demand can take any form. It doesn’t need to be made explicitly to the victim. Applying the case of Collister & Warhurst where 2 police officers talked about letting D off if he paid them, even though they did not say it directly to the D, by saying it was within an earshot, made it a legitimate demand. Apply this back to the scenario, and we can see there is a demand as Debra has said that unless Alan pays £1000 to Debra she will tell his family. Secondly we move on to whether it was an unwarranted demand. The first question to ask is whether the defendant had reasonable grounds for making the demand; and the use of menaces was a proper means of reinforcing the demand. The answer to both the questions has to be yes; if yes to both then it is warranted. If no to one point then it is an unwarranted. In the case Harvey the D referred to the cannabis as “rubbish” the D wanted to kidnapped V’s wife and child and
A2 Law-making off without payment from a taxi.
Tajinder Singh Ranshi A2 Law – Making Off Without Payment Discuss the criminal liability of Armani? Armani may have committed the offence of making off without payment. This offence is set out in Section 3 of the Theft Act 1978. The actus reus for the offence is the defendant must have made off, there must be goods which have been supplied or a service has been done, payment is required on the spot and the defendant has not paid as required. The mens rea is that they must have acted dishonest, they had knowledge that payment was required on the spot and there was intention to avoid payment. The first stage of the actus reus is making off. This means that the defendant leaves a place where payment is required. This was highlighted in the case of McDavitt where in the lp we were told that the defendant had not made off as he had not left the restaurant. If we apply this back to the scenario it is clear that the d had made off without paying as the d jumps out of the taxi and runs away before paying for it. Secondly we ask whether there were any goods supplied or a service done. If the service is complete then there is no offence. In the case of Troughton v Met police the d was convicted off not paying for his taxi journey. On appeal the conviction got quashed as the journey wasn’t completed. This meant that there was a breach of contract by the taxi driver and so
Offers last forever unless expressly revoked. Critically evaluate this statement as it relates to the formation of contracts.
‘Offers last forever unless expressly revoked.’ Critically evaluate this statement as it relates to the formation of contracts. Basically, contract cannot come into existence until there has been a valid offer and corresponding acceptance. In other words, If an offer is withdrawn prior to acceptance, then no contract can result. Offer means an expression of willingness to contract made with the intention that it shall become binding on the offeror as soon as it is accepted by the offeree. The offer may be communicated in writing, orally, by conduct or combination of all three. If an offer is withdrawn prior to acceptance, then no contract can result. It may be contested that even if an offer has been communicated to the intended offeree, the offer will never last forever. There are several situations where an offer can be terminated and these can range from revocation of offer, lapse of time, failure of a precondition, rejection, counter-offer, death of the offeror. First and foremost, an offer will lapse once the offeror withdraw an offer which is known as revocation of an offer. In the case, Payne v Cave, it establishes the principle that an offer may be withdrawn at any time up until it is accepted. In Routledge v Grant, the defendant made a provisional offer to buy the claimant’s house at a specified price, ‘a definite answer to be given within six weeks from
List and explain the six most important cases for the law on insanity, explaining why they are the most important cases when it comes to the development of the law.
List and explain the six most important cases for the law on insanity, explaining why they are the most important cases when it comes to the development of the law. The six cases I consider most important in the development of the law on insanity is M’Naghten (1956), Kemp (1956), Clarke (1972), Burgess (1991), Quick (1973) and Windle (1952). Each of these cases has been vital in the development of the law on insanity, for different reasons, which will be discussed in this essay. M’Naghten 1843 Daniel M’Naghten was charged with the murder of the then Prime Minister’s secretary. M’Naghten was described as ‘an extreme paranoiac entangled in an elaborate system of delusions’, which led him to believe he was being persecuted by the ‘Tories’, who were to blame for various personal and financial misfortunes. He had intended to kill the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel. Medical witnesses testified that he was insane, and the jury found him not guilty on the grounds of insanity. He was committed to Broadmoor where he remained until his death 20 years later. Despite this, there was public outrage at the fact he had been acquitted of all wrong-doing, and so the House of Lords created the rules as an attempt to clarify the defence. It must be noted that these rules were not made in the case of M’Naghten; they were created after the case in a joint effort of 14
To what extent does the South Australian legal system guarantee justice?
Humanities - Ryan Lovell Legal Studies Essay To what extent does the South Australian legal system guarantee justice? For the most part, the South Australian legal system guarantees justice, although being vulnerable to human manipulation and corruption. Doctrine of precedent, the process of appeal and the use of a jury ensure that accused individuals are given a fair trial and sentence. The system is built to be impartial, so that regardless of race, religion, or gender individuals will be treated under the same rules. That being said, with more funds available, the defendant in a legal case may be able to hire a better legal team, and reduce their sentence severity. Judges in South Australia use doctrine of precedent to determine a fair sentence based on prior sentences for similar offences. This ensures that an individual receives a sentence relative to what other people are given. In the case of R v PETER ATHANASAS, the judge references two cases in the sentencing remarks. Both R v Dubois and R v Telford cases are mentioned by the District court judge, as reference and justification for the sentence being dealt. Both of the mentioned cases involved a similar offence to that committed by the defendant, Mr. Athanasas. The judge conveys that not only must his sentence abide by the parameters of the other two cases, but also as a deterrent to future criminals
To what extent would you say that the rights of a citizen suspected of committing a criminal offence are protected by the Codes of Practice contained within the Police and Criminal Evidence Act of 1984?
* To what extent would you say that the rights of a citizen suspected of committing a criminal offence are protected by the Codes of Practice contained within the Police and Criminal Evidence Act of 1984? 25 Marks Ans. The police has been given special powers by the parliament through which they can investigate on people whom they suspect of any criminal charge, these rights and powers include to stop and search suspects , to arrest them and take there fingerprints and samples such as blood ,hair etc. These investigatory powers are must because without these powers it would be impossible for the police to scrutinize crimes. The parliament also makes sure that even the police with these powers must respect the individual rights of a citizen and are not supposed to unnecessarily harass the ordinary people,The peple should therefore be protected from fidgety police methods and should be allowed to move freely . This law on police powers in contained in the Police and criminal Evidence Act of 1984.There are 8 codes of practice under which the police can do all the investigation these include stop and search ,detention and questioning ,identification interviewing ,power of arrest,visual recording . It is believed that the rights of a citizen suspected of a criminal offence are protected under these codes of practice contained under Criminal Evidence Act of 1984, because the
Exercising Control over Delegated Legislation
Control over Delegated Legislation Deleted Legislation in many instances is made by non-elected bodies and since there are so many people with the power to make delegated legislation, it is important to have some control over it. The Control is exercised by the Parliament and the Courts. There also may be public inquiry before law is passed on an especially sensitive matter, such as planning laws which may affect the environment. Control by Parliament: Fairly limited, though Parliament has the initial control with the enabling Act which sets boundaries within which delegated legislation is made. The parliament retains control over delegated legislations as it can repeal the powers in the enabling Act at any time. If does so then the right to make regulations will cease. Delegated Powers Scrutiny Committee: *Established in 1993 in House of Lords Purpose: to consider whether the provisions of any Bills delegated legislative power inappropriately. Reports the findings to the House of Lords before Committee stage of Bill, but has no power to repeal or amend the Bills. Problem: there is no general provision that the regulations made under the enabling act have to be laid before Parliament for the MPs to consider them .A few enabling acts will say that this has to happen. Affirmative Resolutions: Many statutory instruments will be subject to affirmative resolution. The
Advantages of the jury system
Advantages of jury A jury is used in the Crown Court only when the Defendant pleads not guilty. The jury plays three roles in criminal cases which are : Spilt Function: In this the trial is overseen by the judge and the jury, there functions are divided as the judge looks over and decides the points of law and the jury decides the fact.At the end the judge has the power to exonerate the defendant if its decided by him.This is generally called direct acquittal and is applied on 10 % of the cases.If the trial is to continue the judge may order the jury to consider the guilt and innocence of the defendant in a private room and make decision for athe accused in secret.The judge may or may not agree to the juries verdict but must accept it any way and juries do not give any explainations for their decision. Majority Verdict: Majority verdict has been brought to function since 1967.These are applied when afetr atleast two hours there is no verdict,the judge may call them back to a courtroom where there are 12 juries the verdict can be 10-2 or 11-1, if there are for any reason juries below 12 ,then only one can disagree with the verdict.A jury cannot go below nine. This function is applied to lower the fear of jury 'nobbling',i. e juries may be sometimes bribed from the side of the victim to be proved not guilty,it was found that i the method including jury trial many of the
Describe The Roles Of Barrister And Solicitor In The British Legal System.
Notes Lawyers may be called to the Bar or admitted as solicitors. Do you perceive any deficiencies in the way in which lawyers obtain professional qualifications? To what extent have recent years seen an overlap between the two professions? [25] Assess critically whether the existence of a divided legal profession can still be justified. Does the present system present any problems for a student wishing to embark on a legal career? ‘The job of a barrister and a solicitor within the English Legal System is essentially the same.’ Discuss the truth of this statement. [25] In most countries there is a single legal profession. Individual lawyers may choose to specialize in any areas of their expertise. However, in England and Wales, the professions of barrister and solicitor are separate and the work is different. It is not possible to belong to both branches of the legal profession, but it is possible for a barrister to retrain and become a solicitor and vice versa. However this with is may be a disadvantage in terms of time wasted without income and a fresh start on the bottom of a new professional ladder. Hence, there is a high demand of a fused legal profession, however it is never implemented. The work of both professions are different. Barristers in private practice usually deals with preparation of opinions, drafting of pleadings, and the presentation of
The rules and methods of statutory interpretation allow judges to decide cases as they wish. Discuss the accuracy of this statement.
Statutory interpretation Judges have discretion to interpret laws. There are several rules which judges can use. Firstly, the literal rule is whereby the plain ordinary and natural meaning of words in a statute is taken. It is said to be the best way to uphold Parliament’s intention. Judges are given limited discretion to decide on laws as they have to follow the meaning of the words. However, it may lead to absurdity. In the case of Whiteley v Chappell, it was an offence to impersonate any person entitled to vote to prevent electoral malpractice. However, the defendant impersonated a dead person who under the literal rule was not entitled to vote. He was acquitted. However, this shows that literal rule can result in repugnant situations as he was clearly guilty for impersonation. Also in the case of Fisher v Bell, the defendant had displayed flick knives in his shop window. Under the Offensive Weapons Act, it was an offence to sell or offer for sale any flick knife. However, the literal rule was used and the defendant was acquitted as displaying was merely an invitation to treat and not an offer for sale. Under the literal rule, judges have no discretion as they have to abide by the words of the statute. However, the literal rule may be useless when the solutions cannot be found in the statute or is ambiguous. An experienced draftsman cannot foresee all
