premium Trusted by generations of students, you can count on a Longman Law Series textbook to spark your academic curiosity and provide you with the best possible basis for your legal study through: ■ Clear, academically rich and scholarly exposition of the law ■ Analysis of the theories, policies and wider social, economic and political infl uences LONGMAN which underpin the legal principles LAW ■ Engaging author commentary, written by subject experts, and a range of innovative SERIES stylistic features, with interactive online support LONGMAN LAW SERIES C Criminal Law ‘…a very clearly written work which integrates doctrine and theory very well. The author clearly always has r the student’s learning needs in mind throughout… but there is no sense of ‘dumbing down’ in any way. In i fact, the book offers many insights of interest to scholars and practitioners.’ Mark Telford, University of m Southampton FOURTH EDITION ‘…a sophisticated theoretical and doctrinal introduction to the foundations of English criminal law which is i lucidly written…’ Prabha Kotiswaran, SOAS n William Wilson ‘Quite rightly, the fi rst edition was greeted with great acclaim, largely because the book refl ects an appropriate a balance between doctrine and theory. The use of hypotheticals, the inclusion of summaries (or overviews) and F O l the easy style of the author should make this a valuable source and guide, particularly for students new to the U R subject.’ Barry Mitchell, THES on a previous edition T L H E a Your essential guide to all aspects of Criminal Law, this D premium new edition contains: IT w I • a range of hypothetical examples to illustrate O N Your complete learning package problematic case scenarios All our premium sites provide access • invaluable further reading references to a wide range to an interactive Pearson eText, of academic articles and additional source material an electronic version of Criminal Law which is fully searchable. You can personalise • a new chapter on sexual offences your Pearson eText with your own notes and • major rewrites of homicide, partial defences to bookmarks, and extensive links are provided to all of the resources below. The eText page murder and complicity W presentation mirrors that of your textbook. • expanded analysis of European Law as a source of i l CASE Use the eText to link to Case criminal law li Navigator, for help and practice a POWE R NEDA BYVIGATOR with case reading and analysis in • analysis of important Law Commission reports on m criminal law. conspiracy and attempts, and intoxication W In addition access all of the self study features: • full coverage of major new pieces of legislation, most • Interactive multiple choice questions i notably the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 and the l • Practice exam questions with guidance s • Weblinks Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 o n • Legal updates Turn over to fi nd the access card that allows About the author: you to activate mylawchamber premium. William Wilson is Professor of Criminal Law at Queen Case Navigator access is included with your mylawchamber Mary, University of London premium registration. The LexisNexis element of Case Navigator is only available to those who currently subscribe to LexisNexis Butterworths online. “The best textbook pitched at undergraduate level and intended to provoke informed evaluation of the subject matter.” Editorial Advisory Board: Professor I.H. Dennis, University College, London www.pearson-books.com David Radlett, University of Kent Cover © CORBIS CVR_WILS2642_04_SE_CVR.indd 1 09/03/2011 11:07 Criminal Law Doctrine and Theory (cid:51) (cid:54) (cid:53) (cid:46) (cid:52) (cid:40) (cid:53) (cid:3) (cid:51) (cid:40) (cid:62) (cid:3) (cid:58) (cid:44) (cid:57) (cid:48) (cid:44) (cid:58) (cid:59)(cid:89)(cid:92)(cid:90)(cid:91)(cid:76)(cid:75)(cid:3)(cid:73)(cid:96)(cid:3)(cid:78)(cid:76)(cid:85)(cid:76)(cid:89)(cid:72)(cid:91)(cid:80)(cid:86)(cid:85)(cid:90)(cid:3)(cid:86)(cid:77)(cid:3)(cid:90)(cid:91)(cid:92)(cid:75)(cid:76)(cid:85)(cid:91)(cid:90)(cid:19)(cid:3)(cid:96)(cid:86)(cid:92)(cid:3)(cid:74)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:3)(cid:74)(cid:86)(cid:92)(cid:85)(cid:91)(cid:3)(cid:86)(cid:85)(cid:3)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:51)(cid:86)(cid:85)(cid:78)(cid:84)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:3) (cid:51)(cid:72)(cid:94)(cid:3)(cid:58)(cid:76)(cid:89)(cid:80)(cid:76)(cid:90)(cid:3)(cid:91)(cid:76)(cid:95)(cid:91)(cid:73)(cid:86)(cid:86)(cid:82)(cid:3)(cid:91)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:89)(cid:86)(cid:93)(cid:80)(cid:75)(cid:76)(cid:3)(cid:96)(cid:86)(cid:92)(cid:3)(cid:94)(cid:80)(cid:91)(cid:79)(cid:3)(cid:91)(cid:79)(cid:76)(cid:3)(cid:73)(cid:76)(cid:90)(cid:91)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:86)(cid:90)(cid:90)(cid:80)(cid:73)(cid:83)(cid:76)(cid:3)(cid:73)(cid:72)(cid:90)(cid:80)(cid:90)(cid:3) (cid:77)(cid:86)(cid:89)(cid:3)(cid:96)(cid:86)(cid:92)(cid:89)(cid:3)(cid:83)(cid:76)(cid:78)(cid:72)(cid:83)(cid:3)(cid:90)(cid:91)(cid:92)(cid:75)(cid:96)(cid:21) (cid:48)(cid:58)(cid:41)(cid:53)(cid:33)(cid:3)(cid:32)(cid:30)(cid:31)(cid:24)(cid:27)(cid:23)(cid:31)(cid:25)(cid:28)(cid:25)(cid:29)(cid:27)(cid:25) (cid:48)(cid:58)(cid:41)(cid:53)(cid:33)(cid:3)(cid:32)(cid:30)(cid:31)(cid:24)(cid:27)(cid:23)(cid:31)(cid:25)(cid:28)(cid:28)(cid:28)(cid:25)(cid:23) (cid:48)(cid:58)(cid:41)(cid:53)(cid:33)(cid:3)(cid:32)(cid:30)(cid:31)(cid:24)(cid:27)(cid:23)(cid:31)(cid:25)(cid:28)(cid:25)(cid:29)(cid:24)(cid:24) (cid:48)(cid:58)(cid:41)(cid:53)(cid:33)(cid:3)(cid:32)(cid:30)(cid:31)(cid:24)(cid:27)(cid:23)(cid:28)(cid:31)(cid:30)(cid:26)(cid:27)(cid:29)(cid:31) (cid:48)(cid:58)(cid:41)(cid:53)(cid:33)(cid:3)(cid:32)(cid:30)(cid:31)(cid:24)(cid:27)(cid:23)(cid:28)(cid:31)(cid:28)(cid:32)(cid:27)(cid:32)(cid:26) (cid:48)(cid:58)(cid:41)(cid:53)(cid:33)(cid:3)(cid:32)(cid:30)(cid:31)(cid:24)(cid:27)(cid:23)(cid:28)(cid:31)(cid:27)(cid:30)(cid:26)(cid:23)(cid:31) (cid:51)(cid:86)(cid:85)(cid:78)(cid:84)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:3)(cid:51)(cid:72)(cid:94)(cid:3)(cid:58)(cid:76)(cid:89)(cid:80)(cid:76)(cid:90)(cid:3)(cid:91)(cid:80)(cid:91)(cid:83)(cid:76)(cid:90)(cid:3)(cid:74)(cid:86)(cid:84)(cid:76)(cid:3)(cid:94)(cid:80)(cid:91)(cid:79) (cid:64)(cid:86)(cid:92)(cid:89)(cid:3)(cid:42)(cid:86)(cid:84)(cid:87)(cid:83)(cid:76)(cid:91)(cid:76)(cid:3)(cid:51)(cid:76)(cid:72)(cid:89)(cid:85)(cid:80)(cid:85)(cid:78)(cid:3)(cid:55)(cid:72)(cid:74)(cid:82)(cid:72)(cid:78)(cid:76) (cid:40)(cid:83)(cid:83)(cid:3)(cid:51)(cid:86)(cid:85)(cid:78)(cid:84)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:3)(cid:51)(cid:72)(cid:94)(cid:3)(cid:58)(cid:76)(cid:89)(cid:80)(cid:76)(cid:90)(cid:3)(cid:91)(cid:80)(cid:91)(cid:83)(cid:76)(cid:90)(cid:3)(cid:72)(cid:89)(cid:76)(cid:3)(cid:72)(cid:93)(cid:72)(cid:80)(cid:83)(cid:72)(cid:73)(cid:83)(cid:76)(cid:3)(cid:91)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:86)(cid:89)(cid:75)(cid:76)(cid:89)(cid:3)(cid:77)(cid:89)(cid:86)(cid:84)(cid:3)(cid:72)(cid:83)(cid:83)(cid:3) (cid:78)(cid:86)(cid:86)(cid:75)(cid:3)(cid:73)(cid:86)(cid:86)(cid:82)(cid:90)(cid:79)(cid:86)(cid:87)(cid:90)(cid:3)(cid:86)(cid:89)(cid:3)(cid:86)(cid:85)(cid:83)(cid:80)(cid:85)(cid:76)(cid:3)(cid:72)(cid:91)(cid:33) (cid:90)(cid:90)(cid:90)(cid:17)(cid:83)(cid:72)(cid:68)(cid:85)(cid:86)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:72)(cid:71)(cid:17)(cid:70)(cid:82)(cid:17)(cid:88)(cid:78)(cid:18)(cid:79)(cid:68)(cid:90) Criminal Law Doctrine and Theory Fourth edition William Wilson Pearson Education Limited Edinburgh Gate Harlow Essex CM20 2JE England and Associated Companies throughout the world Visit us on the World Wide Web at: www.pearsoned.co.uk First published 1998 Second edition published 2003 Third edition published 2008 Fourth edition published 2011 © Pearson Education Limited 1998, 2011 The right of William Wilson to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Crown Copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen’s Printer for Scotland. Law Commission Reports are reproduced under the terms of the Click-Use Licence. Pearson Education is not responsible for the content of third party internet sites. ISBN: 978-1-4082-5264-2 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Pub lication Data Wilson, William, 1953– Criminal law: doctrine and theory / William Wilson. – 4th ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4082-5264-2 (pbk.) 1. Criminal law–England. 2. Criminal law–Wales. I. Title. KD7888.W55 2011 345.42–dc22 2011009530 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 13 12 11 10 Typeset in 10/12.5pt Minion by 35 Printed and bound by Henry Ling Limited, at the Dorset Press, Dorchester DT1 1HD Contents in brief Preface xxi Table of cases xxii Table of statutes xxxvii Table of statutory instruments xlii Table of United States Legislation xliii Table of international conventions xliv Abbreviations xlv Part I Introduction 1 1 Understanding criminal law 3 2 D ecisions to criminalise 32 3 P unishment 49 Part II General principles of criminal liability 67 4 Actus reus 69 5 C ausation 100 6 M ens rea 122 7 S trict liability 157 8 R elationship between a ctus reus and mens rea 169 9 D efences (1) 182 10 D efences (2): affirmative defences 235 Part III Offences against the person 275 11 Non-fatal offences 277 12 S exual offences 318 13 H omicide 345 Part IV Property offences 399 14 Theft 401 15 F raud and making off without payment 444 16 O ther property offences 468 17 C riminal damage 489 Part V Inchoate offences and complicity 501 18 Inchoate offences 503 19 C omplicity 550 References 594 Index 612 Contents in detail Preface xxi Table of cases xxii Table of statutes xxxvii Table of statutory instruments xlii Table of United States Legislation xliii Table of international conventions xliv Abbreviations xlv Part I I ntroduction 1 1 Understanding criminal law 3 1.1 I ntroduction 3 1.2 W hat is the criminal law? 4 1.3 W hat are the concerns of the criminal law? 4 A The support of public interests 6 B T he support of private interests 6 1.4 H ow are the criminal law’s purposes discharged? 6 A Law enforcement 6 B B ringing proceedings 8 C Trial 9 1 Burden of proof 9 2 Evidential burde n and burden of persuasion 10 3 The presumption of innocence 10 4 Judge and jury 11 1.5 W here do the rules of criminal law come from? 13 A Common law 13 1 Historical perspective 13 2 The modern perspective 15 B S tatute law 19 1 Interrelationship of statute and common law 19 2 The principle of legality 19 3 Interpreting criminal statutes 20 4 Fair warning and social protection 21 C European Union law 23 D The European Convention on Human Rights 24 1 The Human Rights Act 1998 2 4 1.6 L ogic and rationality in the criminal law 27 1.7 C odification 28 1.8 T he Draft Criminal Code 30 viii Contents in detail 2 D ecisions to criminalise 32 2.1 I ntroduction 32 2.2 P rinciples and ideas informing decisions to criminalise 32 A Autonomy 32 1 The harm principle 33 2 What is harm? 34 3 The harm principle: its influence on criminal doctrine 35 4 Alternative notions of autonomy 36 B H arm prevention and other welfare values 37 1 Enforcing morality 38 2 Liberal objections to the enforcement of morality 39 3 Is there a meaningful difference between legislating to enforce morality and legislating to prevent harm? 40 4 Principled approaches to the enforcement of morals 41 C Practical criteria underpinning decisions to criminalise: thresholds of seriousness 42 1 Grading wrongs 42 2 Remote harms and non-victimising crimes 44 3 Practical limiting criteria 45 3 P unishment 49 3.1 I ntroduction 49 3.2 P unishment in the liberal state 49 3.3 T heories of punishment 51 A Retributive theories 52 1 In general 52 2 Forms of retributive theory 53 3 Punishment as an expression of censure 54 B U tilitarianism 56 1 In general 56 2 Forms of utilitarian penal theory 57 3 Criticisms 57 C Mixed theories 60 1 Hart’s solution 60 2 Criticisms of Hart 60 3.4 R ationality and politics in sentencing 61 3.5 C onclusion 6 2 Part II General principles of criminal liability 67 4 A ctus reus 69 4.1 I ntroduction 69 4.2 E lements of liability 69 4.3 I nterrelationship of a ctus reus , m ens rea and defences 71 4.4 T he act requirement 73 Contents in detail ix 4.5 Exceptions to the act requirement 74 A Situational liability 74 B P ossession offences 76 C Omissions 78 1 Is it appropriate to criminalise omissions? 79 2 Acts and omissions: what’s the difference? 82 3 Omissions: the common law approach 85 4 Circumstances giving rise to a duty to act: duty situations 86 5 Circumstances governing the scope of the duty 93 6 Omissions: an alternative approach 96 Summary 98 5 C ausation 100 5.1 I ntroduction 100 5.2 C ausation in crime and tort 101 5.3 C ausation and blameworthiness 101 5.4 T he purpose of establishing causal responsibility 102 5.5 C ausation: the legal position 103 A Factual cause 103 1 Causes and conditions contrasted 104 2 Particular instances of factual causation 104 B L egal cause 105 1 The general framework for imputing cause 105 5.6 P articular examples of causal sequences giving rise to causation problems 108 A Subsisting conditions 108 1 Medical conditions 108 2 Other subsisting conditions 109 B I ntervening acts and events 110 1 Victim’s conduct contributing to the occurrence or extent of injury 110 2 Third party’s act contributing to the occurrence of injury 112 3 Intervening cause supersedes defendant’s act 115 5.7 C ausation and social justice 117 Summary 121 6 M ens rea 122 6.1 I ntroduction 122 6.2 C hoice and character: two models of responsibility 123 6.3 S ubjective and objective fault 124 6.4 M ens rea and the structure of crime 126 6.5 T he mens rea words and their meanings 126 6.6 I ntention 127 A Everyday usage and its relevance to criminal responsibility 128 1 Intention and risk taking 131 2 Summary 133