Criminal Law

What is a Crime?
 A Crime can be described as an
act or omission that is
associated with injurious,
threatening or immoral conduct
that is considered detrimental to
an individual (s) or society.
A crime will incur some
punishment to the guilty
offender brought down by the
state
 Are these Crimes?
Jan is 9 years old and stole a basketball from a sports
store.

Li was a bouncer at a nightclub. In trying to break up a

fight, he knocked a patron to the ground and that patron
died.

Jessica was a mother who was suffering from the

depression when she killed her eight-week-old baby who
would not stop crying.

Luke was driving a motor vehicle in a suburban street at

3:30 p.m. at a speed of 120 kilometres per hour which
resulted in a pedestrian being run over and dying in
hospital that afternoon
Three Basic Features of a
Crime

Harmfulness

Immorality

Punishment
Harmfulness
There are three ways in which an
action is considered harmful

Physical Injury
Economic loss
Harm against society itself
 Immorality
Morality is based on what
society, at any particular time,
believes is right or wrong. As
society changes so does the
view of what should be seen
as criminal
 Punishment
Society has determined,
through Parliament and the
legal system, that those found
guilty of crimes should be
punished.
Purpose and function of
the Law
Criminal law reflects societies views. Criminal
law acts to protect the interests of society by
bringing offenders to justice. Through
punishment Criminal Law aims to

Impose societies retribution

Prevent people from committing crimes
Deter offenders from re-offending
Rehabilitate offenders
Remove offenders from society
 Sources of Law
In Victoria the sources of Criminal
Law come from two areas

Statute Law (Either State or

Commonwealth Legislation)

Common Law (Law developed by

courts)
 Types of Crime
Summary Offences are
minor crimes that are heard in
the magistrates court

Indictable Offences are

more serious crimes that can
be heard before a judge and
jury.

Elements of a Crime
Generally a person will only be
punished for a crime if the
following two elements are present
at the time of the alleged offence..

Actus Reus: is a guilty act

Mens Rea: is a guilty mind

However...
 Strict Liability
In the case of Strict liability
crimes there is no necessity to
prove intention to commit the
crime for a person to be found
guilty. Strict liability primarily
relates to traffic offences
 Activity
Using the example on page 60
of your text book create your
own diagram showing the
Principles of Criminal
Liability
Add definitions for the 5
principles.
Homework
Read pages 56-76