Attempts and complicity
Introduction
We are talking about modes in which general offences can be
committed
These are concepts that apply across the board
They are not themselves offences
In complicity an offence has been made out but the question is whether
someone else’s liability will be attached to the crime
Liability is involved when someone is complicit – in most cases is
assisting or encouraging a crime
Both separate but share point- circumstances in which the defendant
has not committed an offence
Attempts
Inchoate liability-liability for an unfinished crime
Criminal Attempts 1981, s1(1)
We have the idea of attempts from the origins of common law
Definition: If with intent to commit an offence to which this section
applies, a person does an act which is more than merely preparatory to
the commission of the offence, he is guilty of an attempt to commit the
offence.
Mens rea: an intend to commit that offence, not recklessness not
negligence (has caused difficulty for the courts)
Attempts overly apply to indictable offences (only bring them before
Crown Court or Triable either way)
You cannot attempt a battery; it is a summary only offence as a result of
the structure of the offences in the area
Need to understand how an offence is prosecuted
Introduction
We are talking about modes in which general offences can be
committed
These are concepts that apply across the board
They are not themselves offences
In complicity an offence has been made out but the question is whether
someone else’s liability will be attached to the crime
Liability is involved when someone is complicit – in most cases is
assisting or encouraging a crime
Both separate but share point- circumstances in which the defendant
has not committed an offence
Attempts
Inchoate liability-liability for an unfinished crime
Criminal Attempts 1981, s1(1)
We have the idea of attempts from the origins of common law
Definition: If with intent to commit an offence to which this section
applies, a person does an act which is more than merely preparatory to
the commission of the offence, he is guilty of an attempt to commit the
offence.
Mens rea: an intend to commit that offence, not recklessness not
negligence (has caused difficulty for the courts)
Attempts overly apply to indictable offences (only bring them before
Crown Court or Triable either way)
You cannot attempt a battery; it is a summary only offence as a result of
the structure of the offences in the area
Need to understand how an offence is prosecuted
