12. Defences

Criminal Law ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 640-764
Author(s):  
Jonathan Herring

This chapter begins with a discussion of the law on defences. It covers private defence and the prevention of crime; necessity; chastisement; consent; duress; coercion; entrapment; superior orders; automatism; insanity; diminished responsibility; loss of control; intoxication; and mistake. The second part of the chapter focuses on the theory of defences, covering the definition of defences; justifications and excuses; character, choice, and capacity; determinism; the rejection of an overarching theory; insanity; private defence; duress; necessity; and issues that fall between the gaps of the defences.

Author(s):  
Jonathan Herring

This chapter begins with a discussion of the law on defences. It covers private defence and the prevention of crime; necessity; chastisement; consent; duress; coercion; entrapment; superior orders; automatism; insanity; diminished responsibility; loss of control; intoxication; and mistake. The second part of the chapter focuses on the theory of defences, covering the definition of defences; justifications and excuses; character, choice, and capacity; determinism; the rejection of an overarching theory; insanity; private defence; duress; necessity; and issues that fall between the gaps of the defences.


2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 277-284
Author(s):  
Rajan Nathan ◽  
Simon Medland

SummaryPsychiatric expert witnesses instructed to undertake assessments of defendants charged with murder should be familiar with the partial defences of diminished responsibility and loss of control. The Coroners and Justice Act 2009 enacted major amendments to the partial defence of diminished responsibility and introduced a new defence of loss of control to replace the provocation partial defence. In this article, the changes to the law are described with particular focus on the implications for the psychiatric assessment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rudi Fortson

The reformed partial defences to murder, enacted under the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, reflect Parliament’s attempt to align those defences with modern social norms and medical experience whilst retaining the existing definition of ‘murder’, being an offence that attracts a mandatory fixed sentence of imprisonment or detention. However, Parliament departed from the recommendations of the Law Commission in important respects and the appellate courts have added their ‘voice’ to the scope of the partial defences. This article, which is written from a practitioner’s perspective, discusses the existing law and considers the extent to which, since 2009, the aims of policy-makers and law-makers have been fulfilled or have fallen short of expectations. The author contends that the reforms did not go far enough, that the term ‘diminished responsibility’ is no longer apt, that rules relating to ‘loss of control’ are unnecessarily complex and unsatisfactory, and that expert opinion evidence remains problematic.


Author(s):  
Simon Deakin ◽  
David Gindis ◽  
Geoffrey M. Hodgson

Abstract In his recent book on Property, Power and Politics, Jean-Philippe Robé makes a strong case for the need to understand the legal foundations of modern capitalism. He also insists that it is important to distinguish between firms and corporations. We agree. But Robé criticizes our definition of firms in terms of legally recognized capacities on the grounds that it does not take the distinction seriously enough. He argues that firms are not legally recognized as such, as the law only knows corporations. This argument, which is capable of different interpretations, leads to the bizarre result that corporations are not firms. Using etymological and other evidence, we show that firms are treated as legally constituted business entities in both common parlance and legal discourse. The way the law defines firms and corporations, while the product of a discourse which is in many ways distinct from everyday language, has such profound implications for the way firms operate in practice that no institutional theory of the firm worthy of the name can afford to ignore it.


Legal Studies ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 308-322
Author(s):  
Mitchell C. Davies

The objectives of the Criminal Law Revision Committee when drafting the radical reforms proposed by the 1966 Theft Bill were described by a contemporary commentator2 as being: ‘. . . to do away with the more embarrassing and restrictive technicalities of the existing law . . .’In the same place it was observed that the Committee faced a choice between creating a specific definition of the various theft offences and their elements, or one whose generality would allow it to evolve to meet the challenges presented by ever more complex and sophisticated dishonest dealing.


1949 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-34
Author(s):  
Haydn Templeton

SummaryAileron reversal effects on swept-back wings in general and elevon reversal effects on tailless swept-back wings in particular are discussed on a non-mathematical basis, attention being confined to the orthodox flap type of control. The main purpose of the paper is to convey in the simplest terms possible a clear physical picture of the conditions producing loss of control power, emphasis being naturally laid upon the part played by structural wing distortion. Certain qualitative features relating to the two phenomena are also discussed. As a general introduction to the discussion on aileron reversal effects, the definition of “aileron power” in relation to the actual dynamic condition of rolling is described at some length. For elevon reversal effects on tailless aircraft the effect of wing flexibility on both “elevon power” and on trim in steady symmetric flight is considered. With the descriptive treatment adopted the analysis is of necessity broad and general but is designed to appeal to those not too familiar with the subject. The results of certain calculations on a hypothetical wing, which may be of interest, are included. A mathematical analysis for the quantitative estimation of both aileron and elevon reversal effects is given in the Appendix.


1984 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederic B. Fitch

In [3] a definition of negation was presented for the system K′ of extended basic logic [1], but it has since been shown by Peter Päppinghaus (personal communication) that this definition fails to give rise to the law of double negation as I claimed it did. The purpose of this note is to revise this defective definition in such a way that it clearly does give rise to the law of double negation, as well as to the other negation rules of K′.Although Päppinghaus's original letter to me was dated September 19, 1972, the matter has remained unresolved all this time. Only recently have I seen that there is a simple way to correct the definition. I am of course very grateful to Päppinghaus for pointing out my error in claiming to be able to derive the rule of double negation from the original form of the definition.The corrected definition will, as before, use fixed-point operators to give the effect of the required kind of transfinite induction, but this time a double transfinite induction will be used, somewhat like the double transfinite induction used in [5] to define simultaneously the theorems and antitheorems of system CΓ.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 71-78
Author(s):  
Farxod Djurayev ◽  

The article is devoted to the prevention of crime, maintenance of public order and early crime prevention, identification and elimination of the causes of crime in each district, family and individual, classification of each district depending on the crime situation in these regions and joint work to attract all forces and means to identify and eliminate the causes of crime, the role of the law "On operational-search activities" in the prevention of offenses, the concept of operational-search activities, the main tasks, basic principles; bodies carrying out operational-search activities, their legal status; types of operational-search measures and their comments regarding the procedure for conducting a search; social and legal protection of law enforcement officers and persons assisting in the conduct of such events, as well as their family members


2021 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-144
Author(s):  
Ermek B. Abdrasulov

This article examines the issues of differentiation of legislative and subordinate regulation of public relations. It is noted that in the process of law-making activities, including the legislative process, practical questions often arise about the competence of various state bodies to establish various legal norms and rules. These issues are related to the need to establish a clear legal meaning of the constitutional norms devoted to the definition of the subject of regulation of laws. In particular, there is a need to clarify the provisions of paragraph 3 of Article 61 of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan in terms of the concepts "the most important public relations", "all other relations", "subsidiary legislation", as well as to establish the relationship between these concepts. Interpretation is also required by the provisions of p. 4 of Article 61 of the Constitution in terms of clarifying the question of whether the conclusion follows from mentioned provisions that all possible social relations in the Republic of Kazakhstan are subject to legal regulation, including those that are subject to other social and technical regulators (morality, national, business and professional traditions and customs, religion, standards, technical regulations, etc.). Answering the questions raised, the author emphasizes that the law and bylaws, as a rule, constitute a single system of legislation, performing the functions of primary and secondary acts. However, the secondary nature of subsidiary legislation does not mean that they regulate "unimportant" public relations. The law is essentially aimed at regulating all important social relations.


2010 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 193-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nuwan Galappathie ◽  
Krishma Jethwa

SummaryIn England and Wales diminished responsibility is a partial defence to the charge of murder. If successfully argued by the defence, it reduces the charge from murder to manslaughter and thus avoids the mandatory life sentence. Alcohol has been reported to be a feature in up to 80% of all homicides but for many years the judiciary have set an almost unattainable threshold for the disease of alcoholism to amount to a finding of diminished responsibility, in accordance with other aspects of criminal law. Reform of the law on murder is likely to take many years but it is timely to recap the current law on diminished responsibility and review advances in case law in England and Wales on alcohol.


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