Conspiracy (IO) - Lecture 11 PDF

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Inchoate Offences: Conspiracy 2013Inchoate means ‘just begun’ or ‘incomplete’. Inchoate offences are where the full offence is not completed. The reason that the law fixes liability on D’s who have not fulfilled the full offence is to punish those who are willing to be involved in criminality even w...

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Inchoate Offences: Conspiracy 2013 Inchoate means ‘just begun’ or ‘incomplete’. Inchoate offences are where the full offence is not completed. The reason that the law fixes liability on D’s who have not fulfilled the full offence is to punish those who are willing to be involved in criminality even where the full offence is not, for one reason or another, completed. The law governing conspiracy is the subject of a recent Law Commission Consultation Paper (2007) and report in December 2009 (LC318). Conspiracy: There are two types of conspiracy: statutory conspiracy under the Criminal Law Act 1971, and the common law conspiracy. Statutory Conspiracy: Section 1 Criminal Law Act 1977 provides: (1) … if a person agrees with any other person or persons that a course of conduct shall be pursued which, if the agreement is carried out in accordance with their intentions, either – (a) Will necessarily amount to or involve the commission of any offence or offences by one or more of the parties to the agreement, or (b) Would do so but for the existence of facts which render the commission of the offence or any of the offences impossible, He is guilty of conspiracy to commit the offence or offences in question. Actus Reus:  An agreement (of two or more people). Nothing need be done in pursuit of the agreement.  Offence of conspiracy is complete once there is a concluded agreement. See: DPP v Doot [1973].  Must have gone beyond merely discussing it, but there is no need to settle all the details of the offence. See: R v Nock [1978].  Agreement means going beyond the negotiation stage. See: R v Walker [1962]. There is no conspiracy, under S.2 (2), if there are only two people and one of them is: - Spouse. See: R v Chrastny [1991] - Child under 10 years old - Intended Victim Mens Rea: The leading case is Anderson [1986]. The current MR for statutory conspiracy is:

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Criminal Law – Year 2!

Inchoate Offences: Conspiracy 2013 Intention to be a party to an agreement and intention that the substantive offence be carried out by one of the conspirators (even if it is impossible, and even if D knew what was planned and failed to stop it, Siracusa [1990]).

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Criminal Law – Year 2!...