The Basics of Criminal Law Explained
"The corner- stone of the syllabus is understanding of the basic concepts of criminal law. These core topics are criminal law elements, sources and purposes, defenses, case law, legislation, and criminal procedure. One of the basic premises of criminal law is the definition of what constitutes a crime. A crime is typically defined as a wrongdoing or misdeed punishable by law. While this definition may seem obvious, there are a number of nuances that have developed in criminal law over the years. However, for purposes of a first semester law student, the most important thing to understand is that a crime requires two elements – a mens rea and a nexus. Mens rea, which is Latin for "guilty mind," is an essential element of a crime. Mens rea is defined as criminal intent or knowledge. One could have a mental state (or mens rea) and not commit a crime, if no nexus exists. For example, a person that intends to kill his or her boss but dies before the act is committed may be guilty of conspiracy but not guilty of murder. This example illustrates the nexus element. Nexus refers to the connection between a mens rea and the act (or non-act) undertaken that results in a harm. In the example above, the nexus is the impending death of the boss (which would be the "act"). A crime has not occurred because the aforementioned mens rea and nexus did not occur concurrently. Mens rea jurisprudence often drives many issues tested on the bar exam , including causation, attempt, conspiracy and homicide. In addition to mens rea, it is important to understand the sources of criminal law and how it functions. Both the state and the federal legislatures enact penal codes that define and proscribe crimes. Criminal law is therefore found in two primary places: the state’s penal code, and the federal penal code. While state laws vary quite often, the elements typically function the same way from state to state. In addition to the penal codes, both the U.S. and state constitutions set minimum due process requirements that must be met. Lawsuits over criminal statutes tend to have two themes – vagueness and overbreadth. A law or statute will be considered vague if it does not clearly inform people of the conduct prohibited or allowed. A law will be overbroad if it does not focus on a narrow group of prohibited activities in a way that provides little flexibility in how the law is promulgated. Another key area relating to the sources of criminal law is the uniform national criminal code. No single set of laws has been universally adopted at any level of government. The closest that the federal government has come to uniformity in criminal law is through the promulgation of federally adopted federal guidelines and statutes. This uniformity has been attacked as unconstitutionally vague and over-broad. Criminal law is premised on retribution (punishment) and deterrence."
The Core Areas in Criminal Law Studies
The criminal law syllabus typically covers a range of core topics designed to give an overview of the field and its various elements. A key aspect of criminal law is, of course, the elements of a crime. Learning how to analyze a case, determine what is present, and deduce what is missing from the facts presented to make it a crime is a critical skill for law students to master. People don’t generally set out to commit a crime, and figuring out how to differentiate between a lot of scenarios can be difficult, but this is where the law comes in.
The syllabus may then go on to look at different types of offenses, such as aggravated assault, white collar crimes like fraud or shoplifting, drug crimes, and common defenses to those crimes. These defenses may include the insanity defense, the argument of provocation, whether the police committed misconduct, and so forth. You might also study harassment charges, computer crimes, rape and sexual offenses, and vehicular offenses.
A big part of learning criminal law is getting familiar with the different sources of criminal law, which include statutory law, state constitutions and the federal constitution. Supreme Court decisions are also an important part of the American criminal law system, and the syllabus should include a study of what makes up a criminal statute and how those statutes are enacted and handled in a courtroom context.
Important Cases and Judicial Decisions
A review of the Criminal Law syllabus will help in developing a strategy for your revision. You will be able to identify the key areas and cases that are currently most likely to be examined. Considerable weight is given by the Courts to judicial precedents even where they are not actually mentioned in the syllabus. Therefore, when deciding on the topics to cover you may also wish to look outside the syllabus and consider what is actually being considered each year in practice. In addition you should bear in mind that the majority of the case summaries in the syllabus are taken from the leading textbooks. It follows that by reading all of the cases in any one of the leading textbooks you should be able to cover not just all of the syllabus requirements, but also most of the significant developments covered in the other textbooks. The leading textbooks are as follows: Choo, Criminal Offences and Defences (4th ed) Choo et al, Combined Criminal Practice and Procedure Ormerod, Smith and Hogan’s Criminal Law Harris, Law of Crimes Glazebrook, Criminal Law Generally speaking you should consult all of the above if possible.
These cases deal with fundamental principles of criminal law that influence everyday practice. They include the Charter of Rights, R v Falconer (1998), R v Roadley(2001), R v Mizona (2002), R v Ferguson (2003), R v AL (2006), R v Williams(2007), R v Porter (2007), R v James (2008).
Theoretical Approaches and Analyses
The philosophical underpinnings of criminal law are as diverse and complex as the body of law itself. At its core, the various theories surrounding the purpose of punishment inform how laws are created and how offenders are treated under the law. Generally, three schools of thought outline the ideologies behind modern criminal justice policies: utilitarianism, retributivism, and moral philosophies.
Utilitarianism has taken on several different forms since the 18th century. On one end of the pendulum sits classical utilitarianism, a practice adopted by Jeremy Bentham, which proclaims that laws should be structured in a way that punishes in proportion to the harm one has created for society. The theory posits that on the one hand, a relatively minor violation of property will subject an offender to relatively minor or non-existent punishment, while a violation of freedom will be substantially punished. Many modern critics take issue with the morally unpalatable notion espoused by this theory that the suffering of an innocent is justified if the result is a greater good for society, namely that of detaining the guilty.
In opposition to this classical approach is the modern day point of view that a more humane and just approach to punishment is required. This view, often referred to as ‘consequential’ or ‘utilitarian’ in nature, argues that criminality can be managed through treatment and rehabilitation. Like classical utilitarianists , consequentialists focus on the future consequences of criminal conduct rather than on the act itself as a means of punishment. Critics of the consequentialist approach are concerned about the possible superficiality or actual futility of treatment programs, pointing to the history of ineffectual attempts at treating the mentally ill in places like the former USSR and Progressive Era United States, both of which were distinguished by large-scale collections of mentally ill patients in state-run institutions in which many patients suffered egregious abuses.
In contrast to the utilitarian schools of thought are retributivists, who ground their theories in the idea that suffering is necessary for a punishment to be "just." The motto "an eye for an eye" embodies the retributive theory, which views punishment as an act of vengeance on behalf of those who have been wronged in a manner that is proportionate to the severity of the offense. This concept, which can be traced back to the Code of Hammurabi (approximately 1750 B.C.E.), argued that punishment serves the purpose of enforcing moral behavior on any given society. However, modern critics of the retributive movement argue that in a system that is overburdened and marked by discrimination, application of the theory not only unjustly punishes the offender by its very nature but also subjects other individuals to unfair treatment by simply virtue of their disparate treatment under the law.
Practical Lawyering Skills for Students
Maybe you haven’t even thought about this before, but the syllabus for any given law course is geared towards getting you through the exam. When you’re thinking about how to study for criminal law, think about how each topic will present itself on your exam. How will it come up during your exam? How do you study anyway? You might be surprised to find out that there are a lot of skills you need to have before you even get to the grade. The syllabus is designed to teach these practical skills to you.
Legal Research
Research is key to a successful legal career. You’re going to spend a lot of time in practice doing research. For our purposes, legal research means more than just sifting through a bunch of old court cases. Legal research is more than just studying cases. You also have to learn how to navigate the legal system itself. That means learning about the rules and procedures – everything from the civil procedure rules to the local rules. You have to learn about the legal institutions that make up the practice of law as well. Every syllabus will include research as part of your practical skills training. It’s one of the key parts of studying for and passing (and therefore getting a good grade while studying for) your exam.
Critical Thinking
Along with legal research, you also learn critical thinking from the syllabus for criminal law. The real world is not – we hate to tell you – like the courtroom on Law & Order. In the real world, people don’t always have clear evidence of someone’s guilt or innocence. Forensics isn’t as advanced as TV would lead you to believe. Judges do not always get to hear all the evidence for every case. Prosecutors have a tendency to overcharge defendants to secure pleas. Juries can be really biased. Witnesses are flawed human beings. Eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable. On your exam, you’ll be assessed on your ability to use the facts of the case in front of you to analyze the charge. If you’re being asked to analyze a murder case, you should be given stock facts that include the elements of the crime and the relevant criminal law defenses. In the real world, you need to be prepared to analyze what kinds of motives your client may have had to do a crime, the credibility of your witnesses, and other factors not actually related to the crime itself. Being prepared to both analyze a situation as well as see the bigger picture is part of learning critical thinking. You’ll learn to tell the difference between facts and inferences. You’ll learn how to use inductive and deductive reasoning. You’ll learn how to examine assumptions. When you do so, you’ll be improving your critical thinking skills.
Courtroom Strategies
One of the most important skills you’ll learn in law school is how to successfully navigate a courtroom. Sometimes commercial meets criminal – that is, you’ve seen enough courtroom dramas on TV that you sort of remember how the process works, even if you totally can’t describe it. This doesn’t necessarily prepare you for what’s actually going to happen in court. That’s where your studies come into play. Of course your criminal law syllabus will teach you about how to present evidence and procedure to a judge. It stands to reason that the whole class functionally revolves around (drum roll…) the courtroom. You’ll learn about the types of evidence, evidence rules, and how to present evidence in court. You’ll also learn about courtroom procedure, like how to prepare your witnesses. That courtroom strategy? It’s all there in your class. The courtroom strategies you’ll learn will help you gain a competitive advantage in the real world. So don’t treat it lightly. The only person who can make yourself a better law student (and therefore, a better lawyer) is you.
Assessment and Examination in Criminal Law
The assessment procedures used in a criminal law course will combine a variety of methods, including examinations, essays and practical exercises such as the moot court for students who wish to gain experience in litigation.
Examinations are the most common form of assessment. They will usually contain a group of short questions and a longer essay style question where candidates must demonstrate their understanding of a selected topic covered by the course. Some universities and colleges have introduced online examinations, where students spend part of the assessment period answering multi-choice questions which are automatically marked by computer.
Essays and law reports allow students to demonstrate subject knowledge in a wide area of law and to show how that law has been influenced by underlying policy considerations. To do this, you will be expected to consider the content of articles , of widely recognised journals such as Criminal Law Review and Archbold News in order to build up a scholarly accurate picture of an area of law as it stands at the time of writing.
Moot court exercises take place before a judge or panel of judges, require an understanding of both substantive law and procedural rules and are vital for any student who hopes to pursue a career in litigation. Before attending the exercise, you will need to research the case with your opponent in order to prepare submissions on a point of law. You will then take turns to sit at the table in front of the judge to put your side of the case. The judge will then ask you questions about arguments you made during your submissions. Attention to detail in noting and carrying out the judge’s instructions to the court clerk is essential for success and demonstrates a high standard of client care.