Summarised Notes on The Nature of Crime

Resource Description

The Nature of Crime

The Meaning of Crime

“Describe the nature of crime”

Crime can be identified by four different qualities:

1. There must be an act, failure to act (omission), which breaks the law
2. The act or omission must be seen as harmful to the whole community
3. The act or omission is punishable by the state
4. The state takes the person who committed the act to court, where the offence must be proved according to the rules of criminal procedure

Most crimes are created by moral and ethical judgements placed on a person’s behaviour by society. Furthermore, society is considered the victim, as crime is seen as an attack on all of society as a whole.

Elements of Crime

 

Causation

• Another element is causation, which the prosecution must show that there is a link between the act and the harm caused by it. In other words, the act must be at least the substantial cause of the crime; it must be what actually caused the crime
• Causation usually applies to murder and manslaughter charges
• There are some special cases of causation:

• Ordinary natural events: If natural events killed someone who was previously assaulted and left under those conditions, the offender will be charged with murder
• Taking victims as they find them: A victim’s physical/mental circumstances are not responsible if they died following the assault by another person. It is the attacker’s fault that they died

Strict Liability

• There are some crimes where only Actus Reus has to be proven and Mens Rea is disregarded. This concept is called strict liability. Traffic offences are an example where strict liability is applied

Doli Incapax

• Special legal concept that refers to the incapability of committing a crime. In other words, they do not have the capacity of developing mens rea for a crime
• It applies to certain groups in society:

• Children under 10
• Children between 10-14 – this needs to be proven if there was mens rea
• Mentally disabled people

Categories of Crime

“Recognise the different categories of crime”

For criminal law, there is a large scope of legislation that covers a wide variety of behaviour. Criminal behaviour can be classified by the type of act or omission performed.

Offence against Persons

The common feature of these crimes is that the intended aim or result of the crime is to cause injury to another person. They include: homicide, assault, and sexual assault.

Homicide

Assault

• Involves causing physical harm or threatening to cause physical harm to another person
• Assault is legal in special circumstances:

• When a boxer or other professional fighter is involved in a boxing round
• Acceptable in the form of self-defence

• There is aggravated assault which is more serious and has harsher penalties. It includes the use of a dangerous weapon; the assault of a police officer; or where the intention it to cause serious harm. Threatening to contaminate a person with an infectious disease like AIDS is also included in this category

Sexual Assault

• Referred to as rape, this is a broad category of crime, involving sexual contact with another person without their consent
• There are some cases where consent has been given (age of consent in NSW is 16 years), but that person is underage. This charge is called statutory rape
• Consent is also irrelevant when it is given mistakenly, for instance, if they are forced to, they do not understand, or were given drugs or alcohol to prevent them from thinking properly
• There is a minimum sentence of 14 years, but can be extended to 20 years

Offences against the Sovereign

These are acts or omissions which aim to disrupt or harm the governing bodies of a country. They include spying, treason, illegal demonstrations, trespassing, and terrorism. They can be placed into two categories:

Economic Offences

Economic offences are a broad category to describe a wide range of offences involving crimes that damage or result in the loss of another person’s property. There are three sub-categories, each with many more specific economic crimes all listed in the Crimes Act, making them a prevalent type of crime.

Crimes Against Property

• These are actions that damage/remove other people’s property. There are three main types
• Larceny or theft: Taking away another person’s property without their consent. Borrowing is not considered larceny. It must be shown that the accused had intended to steal the property
• Breaking and Entering: This is the most common form of property crime. It occurs when a person forces entry into a building to commit an offence
• Robbery: This is the most serious of the three, where the accused takes a person’s property directly from the victim. It usually involves the threat of violence. When the violence of threat of violence involves a weapon, then the charge is escalated to armed robbery