Choose ONE of the following essay questions and write an essay of 2000 words (please do not write above or below 2000 words):
- Imposing liability for omissions unjustifiably interferes with a person’s autonomy to decide whether or not to act in particular circumstances. Critically discuss this statement with reference to one of the duties through which omissions liability can arise.
- “To punish conduct without reference to the actor’s state of mind is both inefficacious and unjust. It is inefficacious because conduct unaccompanied by an awareness of the factors making it criminal does not mark the actor as one who needs to be subjected to punishment in order to deter him or others from behaving similarly in the future, nor does it single him out as a socially dangerous individual who needs to be incapacitated or reformed. It is unjust because the actor is subjected to the stigma of a criminal conviction without being morally blameworthy.” Herbert L. Packer, ‘Mens Rea and the Supreme Court’ (1962) Supreme Court Review 107, 109.
Critically consider the use of strict liability in English and Welsh criminal law in light of Packer’s arguments above.
- Critically discuss the impact of Jogee and Ruddock [2016] UKSC 8 on the mens rea of complicity.
- In R v Pace and Rogers [2014] EWCA Crim 186 the Court of Appeal held that, pursuant to the Criminal Attempts Act 1981, an intention to commit an offence connotes an intent to commit all elements of the offence. The decision of the court applied only to impossible attempt cases. Critically discuss whether the court’s approach in Pace and Rogers should be generalised to cover possible attempts.
- The so-called prior-fault intoxication rules have developed in case law to construct criminal liability for defendants who, at the time of committing an offence, lacked the requisite mens rea. These rules also block defences that would otherwise be available. A preliminary question is when, exactly, should we classify a defendant as ‘intoxicated’ such that the prior-fault intoxication rules apply?
Critically discuss whether the definition of intoxication adopted by the Court of Appeal in Taj [2018] EWCA Crim 1743 is too broad and risks overcriminalization.