CRW2602-Criminal Law: Specific Crimes

Welcome to the second module in Criminal Law. We hope you will find it interesting and rewarding. You will receive a number of tutorial letters during the year. A tutorial letter is our way of communicating with you about teaching, learning and assessment. This tutorial letter contains important information about the scheme of work, resources and assignments for this module. We urge you to read it carefully and to keep it at hand when working through the study material, doing assignments, preparing for the examination, and addressing questions to your lecturers. This tutorial letter also provides all the relevant information with regard to the prescribed study material. Please read this information carefully and make sure that you obtain the prescribed material as soon as possible. In this tutorial letter you will also find the assignments for the semester and instructions on how to do and submit them. Finally, we also include in this tutorial letter certain general and administrative information with regard to this module. Please study this section of the letter carefully. We would like to point out that you must read all the tutorial letters you receive during the semester immediately and carefully – they always contain important, and sometimes urgent, information. Please read Tutorial Letter 301 in combination with Tutorial letter 101 as it will give you an idea of generally important information when studying at a distance and within a particular college. We hope that you will enjoy this module and wish you all the best! 2.1 Structure of the module The code for this module is CRW2602 and it is a semester module. This means that if you are registered for this module in the first semester of 2018, you will write the examination in May/June 2018; and if you are registered in the second semester, you will write the examination in October/November 2018. If you fail the examination in May/June 2018 but are granted a supplementary examination, you will write the supplementary examination in October/November 2018. If you fail the examination in October/November 2018 but are granted a supplementary examination, you will write the supplementary examination in May/June 2019. Criminal law is presented in two compulsory modules, namely CRW2601 and CRW2602. Module CRW2601 deals with the general principles of criminal law, participation in crime and attempt to commit a crime. Module CRW2602 deals with specific crimes. 2.2 Purpose of the module This module covers theoretical principles underlying specific topics of substantive criminal law and some of the most important crimes. The purpose of this module (CRW2602) is for you to gain the necessary knowledge, skills, attitudes and competencies to analyse and solve problems relating to selected topics of criminal law and specific offences. You must be able to demonstrate a clear understanding of these selected topics and the elements of 1 INTRODUCTION AND WELCOME 2 STRUCTURE, PURPOSE AND OUTCOMES 4 the most important specific offences, apply these principles to factual scenarios which occur in the real world, and solve problems related to criminal law in a work environment. 2.3 Outcomes of the module By studying this module, you should develop the following main outcomes and competencies:  Knowledge and understanding. This fundamental outcome requires you to gain sufficient knowledge, skills and competencies to critically analyse and evaluate legal material which include the Constitution, legislation, case law and academic opinion pertaining directly to specific topics of criminal law.  Application. You also have to develop the competency to formulate legal arguments and apply your knowledge to practical problems. This outcome can be achieved by, inter alia, doing the “activities” and “test yourself” exercises included in the study material. The outcomes and competencies mentioned above are also relevant for assessment purposes (by your lecturers and your assessment of yourself). In the examination, you will have to answer theoretical questions which will require you to demonstrate your knowledge of the study material. You will also have to answer a number of problem-type questions to assess your understanding and ability to apply your theoretical knowledge practically. Both types of questions will assess how you use certain competencies, for example, your ability to remember legal principles and to apply them to factual scenarios. Since you are a Unisa student learning through distance education, you will also be required to evaluate yourself. Self-evaluation is an important tool for assessing the extent to which you have achieved the study outcomes. Apart from the feedback on assignments which will provide specific guidance, you should take notice of the specific outcomes identified in each study unit to determine whether you have achieved the knowledge and insight required. In this way, you will be able to identify areas in which you may need to improve your knowledge and/or understanding.