Liable for Unlawful Assembly and Riot by Virtue of Liking or Comment on Social Media Platforms?

In Secretary of Justice v Tong Wai Hung [2021] HKCA 404, the Hong Kong Court of Appeal affirmed that the doctrine of joint enterprise, as a matter of statutory construction, is applicable onwards to the offences of unlawful assembly and riot under the Public Order Ordinance (Cap. 245), and physical presence at the crime scene is not a pre-requisite to establish liability. The Court argued that such an interpretation strikes a balance between public order concerns and the need to avoid the risk of over-charging. This note contends that the Court of Appeal’s decision will risk exposing numerous citizens, who can hardly be said to share culpability comparable to that of the actual and principal perpetrators of unlawful and riotous assemblies, to prosecution and conviction on questionable legal and evidential basis.

6. Parties to crime

A person who aids, abets, counsels or procures another to commit an offence is criminally liable and known as an ‘accessory’ or a ‘secondary party’. This chapter focuses on the basis of their liability, the distinction between accessories and principals, how secondary liability differs from inchoate liability, the principal offender, innocent agency, the accessory’s actus reus, whether an omission is sufficient and whether mere presence at the crime is enough. The chapter discusses the Supreme Court decision in Jogee, examining problems of ‘joint enterprise liability’, issues of terminology, the significance of the doctrine of joint enterprise in murder and why the Supreme Court characterized it as involving a ‘wrong turn’. It also deals with withdrawal by a secondary party before the principal offender commits the crime, victims as parties to crime and instigation by law enforcement officers for the purpose of entrapment.

7. Parties to crime

Course-focused and contextual, Criminal Law provides a succinct overview of the key areas on the law curriculum balanced with thought-provoking contextual discussion. This chapter discusses the meaning of accomplices, vicarious liability, joint enterprise liability, and corporate liability. All the parties to a crime are accomplices. The person who perpetrates the crime is the principal. Others, not being principals, who participate in the commission of an offence are referred to as accessories or secondary parties and will be liable to conviction if it is proved that they aided, abetted, counselled, or procured the commission of the crime by the principal. Vicarious liability is a form of strict liability arising from the employer–employee relationship, without reference to any fault of the employer. A corporation is a legal person and therefore may be criminally liable, even though it has no physical existence and cannot act or think except through its directors or employees.

12. Parties to crime

This chapter examines the criminal liability of parties to a crime. Where D involves herself in the crime of another, and that crime is completed, D may not just be liable for her inchoate role, but may be additionally liable as an accomplice. As such, she is labelled and punished in the same way as the principal. This chapter begins with an overview of the current law of complicity and the circumstances where uncertainty can emerge in determining whether D is a principal or an accomplice. It then considers the elements of complicity by aiding, abetting, counselling, or procuring; the abolition of complicity by joint enterprise; the relationship between complicity and inchoate liability; and available defences. It outlines options for legal reform concerning complicity and the potential application of complicity within a problem question. Relevant cases are highlighted throughout the chapter, with brief summaries of the main facts and judgments.

New Labour, New Realism?

This chapter will explore four developments within the CJS system that occurred, from the 1990s onwards, under Conservative and New Labour administrations - Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP), Joint Enterprise and the whole life tariff. The chapter begins with a discussion of the influence of Left Realism on New Labour and how New Public Management led to significant changes across the CJS.It begins with a discussion the reform of the Mental Health Act (MHA) and the notion of Dangerous Severe Personality Disorder (DSPD). Left Realism emerged within criminology a decade before the election of New Labour. However, it is possible to see its impact on some key notions of New Labour policy. Left realist were ultimately critical of the way that the New Labour approached questions of community and crime.

Silence, joint enterprise and the legal trap

The so-called ‘wall of silence’ presents a threat to successful police investigations and criminal trials. Explanations for it have focused on cultural narratives, including distrust in the police, a ‘no snitching’ culture and manipulative ‘professional criminals’. Drawing on a study of serious multi-handed violence and ‘joint enterprise’ as a legal response, this article highlights the role of the law, and its agents, in generating silence among young suspects, whose primary concern is the legal risks of talking. Yet, these young people face a precarious trap, as their silence is interpreted as guilt by the police, propelling them towards charge. This article concludes that to avoid over-charging and to encourage young people with knowledge of serious violence to talk, structural change is needed. The system must reverse the legal rules regarding silence and reform the law on secondary liability to reduce the legal risks of talking.

Perspectives on Leadership in Early Childhood Education and Care Centers Through Community of Practice

<p>In this article we focus on the perceptions of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) directors, leaders on leadership through the concept of community of practice and examine how it could be applied in the Finnish context during times of change. Data on the perceptions of 15 ECEC centre directors were collected via a focus group interview. The study employed qualitative content analysis design. The results indicate that the formal leader has an important role in leading the community. Moreover, building flexible leadership structures and supporting all community members in developing the shared pedagogical leadership are the building blocks of the future leadership as a joint enterprise. </p>

Perspectives on Leadership in Early Childhood Education and Care Centers Through Community of Practice

<p>In this article we focus on the perceptions of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) directors, leaders on leadership through the concept of community of practice and examine how it could be applied in the Finnish context during times of change. Data on the perceptions of 15 ECEC centre directors were collected via a focus group interview. The study employed qualitative content analysis design. The results indicate that the formal leader has an important role in leading the community. Moreover, building flexible leadership structures and supporting all community members in developing the shared pedagogical leadership are the building blocks of the future leadership as a joint enterprise. </p>

On Telecommunications Thorn Path to the IP World: From Cybersecurity to Artificial Intelligence

The chapter is devoted to the discussion of the telecommunications development strategy. Communication specialists all around the world are facing the problem: how to shift from circuit switching to packet switching. The same problem is the main challenge for the US Department of Defense. We discuss the Defense Information System Network move from circuits to packets, namely, “Joint Vision 2010” doctrine - the implementation of signaling protocol #7 and Advanced Intelligent Network, and “Joint Vision 2020” - the network transformation by the transition to Assured Services Session Initiation Protocol and Multifunctional SoftSwiches. We describe some packet switching shortcomings during the implementation of Joint Vision 2020, namely, the failed GSM-O contract and Joint regional security stacks failures. The Defense Department’s newly released cloud strategy positions the general-purpose Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) cloud initiative as the foundation. The strategy emphasizes a cloud hierarchy at DoD, but JEDI cloud strategy leaves a series of unanswered questions relating to the interoperability of clouds. The JEDI cloud strategy has based on Artificial Intelligence Initiative. We conclude that the long-term channel - packet coexistence seems inevitable, especially in the face of growing cyber threats.