CRW1501 EXAM PACK

Unit 1 - Intro Distinguish between a crime and a delict.(5) Crime Delict 1 Directed against public interests. Directed against private interests. 2 Form part of public law. Form part of private law. 3 State prosecutes. Private party institutes action. 4 Result in the imposition of punishment by the state. Result in the guilty party being ordered to pay damages to the injured party. 5 State prosecutes perpetrator irrespective of the desires of private individual. Injured party can choose whether he wishes to claim damages or not. 6 Trial governed by rules of criminal procedure. Trial governed by rules of civil procedure. (a) Name the four requirements for criminal liability in the correct sequence. (5) 1. Conduct - -Conduct can lead to liability only if it is voluntary ie. capable of subjecting his bodily or muscular movements to his will or intellect. - An omission can lead to liability only if the law imposed a duty on X to act positively and he failed to do so. 2. which complies with the definitional elements of the crime - Definitional elements is the concise definition of the type of conduct and the circumstances in which that conduct must take place in order to constitute an offence 3. which is unlawful - Conduct that is contrary to the totality of the rules of law, including rules which in certain circumstances allow a person to commit an act which is contrary to the letter of legal prohibition or norm. 4. and culpable - ie. grounds upon which X may personally be blamed. - Subrequirements 1. Criminal Capacity a) The ability to appreciate the wrongfulness of his act b) The ability to act in accordance with such an appreciation 2. Act must be either intentional or negligent (b) X, a sixty-three-year-old public prosecutor who suffers from diabetes, is charged with the crime of corruption. The state’s evidence reveals that X received R30 000 from Y in exchange for destroying a police docket which implicated Y in several fraudulent activities. X is convicted of corruption. X has no criminal record. The state prosecutor argues that the appropriate sentence for X’s crime is imprisonment for a period of five years because persons in public office should be deterred from abusing their powers. X’s legal advisor disagrees with these submissions. She argues that imprisonment for a period of five years is too harsh a sentence, considering the age, health and clean record of the accused. In her view, a sentence of imprisonment would place too much emphasis on general deterrence, and disregards the principle of proportionality embodied in the theory of retribution. With reference to the decision in Zinn 1969 (2) SA 537 (A), discuss the merits of these arguments. In your answer you must explain the difference between the absolute and relative theories of punishment. (7) in Zinn the court held that three factors must be taken into account when a court sentences an offender. These factors are