23. Mental conditions

This chapter considers the ways in which the criminal law treats people suffering from mental disorders. The following controversies are examined: when an individual can be regarded as mentally incapable of being tried; the relationship between insane and sane automatism; the extent to which the insanity defence reflects modern psychiatric practice; whether the lack of direct correlation between the medical and legal definitions of ‘insanity’ infringes the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR); and how the insanity defence ought to be reformed.

21. Assisting and encouraging: Serious Crime Act 2007, Part 2

This chapter considers the ways in which criminal law applies to those responsible for assisting or encouraging crimes, i.e. the liability under the Serious Crime Act 2007. It examines the unduly complex drafting of the offences and their wide scope.

20. Conspiracy

This chapter examines the ways in which criminal law treats conspiracies. Some of the controversies examined include: whether it is necessary and/or desirable to criminalize conspiracies; the extent to which there can be a conspiracy under the Criminal Law Act 1977 if the parties have only agreed to commit the substantive offence subject to some condition; what must be agreed and who must intend what to happen for a crime of conspiracy; the mens rea of statutory conspiracies; and whether common law conspiracies are so vague as to infringe the rule of law.

18. Secondary liability

This chapter considers the liability of someone who aids, abets, counsels or procures someone else to commit a criminal offence. The chapter examines the actus reus and the mens rea that must be present before someone will be guilty as a secondary party. The chapter examines the now discredited doctrine of joint enterprise and considers the implications of the Supreme Court’s judgment in Jogee. The chapter evaluates the merits of the Supreme Court’s judgment and also considers past efforts at statutory reform of secondary liability.

12. Theft

This chapter examines the law governing theft. It considers the extent to which the criminal law of theft conflicts with civil law concepts of property; whether it is possible to steal property that belongs to oneself; the types of property that may be stolen; and the extent to which it is possible to provide a definition of ‘dishonesty’. The test for dishonesty has been fundamentally altered by the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal, developments which are analysed in this chapter.

10. Non-fatal offences against the person

This chapter examines non-fatal offences that range from a trivial tap on the shoulder to levels of harm threatening life itself. While the relevant offences are archaic in their definition and lacking in any coherent structure, they are extremely important because they are frequently prosecuted and they also give rise to interesting questions on issues central to the criminal law, such as how the autonomy of the individual should be respected. The chapter considers whether psychiatric illness can amount to an offence against the person; what level of harm constitutes ‘actual’ bodily harm as opposed to ‘grievous’ bodily harm; and whether actual bodily harm must be ‘inflicted’ or merely caused. Finally, the chapter examines the criminalization of disease transmission. This also chapter examines the controversial question of whether and, if so, when a sane adult should be permitted to consent to harm to himself or to the risk of harm to himself. It considers the threshold of harm—should V be permitted to consent to any level of harm or only to minor harms; whether a person should be permitted to consent to different levels of harm in certain activities: surgery, boxing, horseplay, etc; whether the transmission or risk of transmission of diseases or infections can be consented to; and what constitutes ‘true’ consent.

8. Voluntary manslaughter

This chapter examines categories of manslaughter in which the defendant killed with the mens rea for murder, but qualified for one of the partial defences which reduced his crime to one of voluntary manslaughter. These defences are: loss of control, diminished responsibility, and suicide pacts and assisted suicide.

7. Murder

This chapter examines the law on murder. It considers when does life begin and end for the purposes of the law of murder; should an intention to cause really serious harm suffice as the mens rea for murder; and how might this area of the law be reformed so as to reflect generally recognized principles of the criminal law?

5. Fault

This chapter considers the different types of fault required by criminal law. It examines the definitions and/or applications of the following concepts: intention, recklessness, malice, knowledge, and negligence.

22. General defences

This chapter focuses on defences. The following controversies are examined: whether the fact of childhood constitutes a defence; the extent to which duress can negate criminal liability; whether necessity ought to be a defence; whether recent legislative developments have rendered self-defence unduly complex; and the distinction between justifications and excuses and whether these classifications have any practical import.