Chapter 12: Parties to a Crime and Accomplice Liability
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Questions and Answers

What is the basis of D's liability in complicity?

  • D's criminal conduct
  • D's intent to commit the principal offence
  • P's conviction for the principal offence
  • Proof of the principal offence (correct)

    • What is the problem in separating principal offenders and accomplices in the context of innocent agency?

  • Moral uncertainties
  • Factual uncertainties
  • Ethical uncertainties
  • Legal uncertainties (correct)

    • What is the effect of convicting D of the principal offence without proving which role D played?

  • Mistrial
  • No breach of D's right to a fair trial (correct)
  • Breach of D's right to a fair trial
  • Automatic acquittal of P

    • What is meant by 'aiding' in the context of complicity?

    <p>Assisting P in committing the principal offence</p> Signup and view all the answers

    When can D's omission constitute an act of encouragement?

    <p>When D has a power or right to control P's actions</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the relationship between D's conduct and P's offence in complicity?

    <p>No causal link is necessary between D's conduct and P's offence</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the 'forensic advantage of complicity'?

    <p>The benefit of having the same liability as a principal offender</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the difference between 'aiding' and 'abetting'?

    <p>Aiding means assisting, while abetting means encouraging</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Can D assist or encourage P by omission?

    <p>Yes, in certain circumstances</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the role of proof in D's liability for complicity?

    <p>D's liability derives from proof of the principal offence</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the term for when an individual is liable for a crime because they assisted or encouraged the principal offender, but did not complete the actus reus and mens rea of the offence themselves?

    <p>Accomplice</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is required for an individual to be liable as a coprincipal?

    <p>They must have completed the actus reus and mens rea of the offence themselves</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the doctrine of innocent agency?

    <p>A doctrine that allows an individual to be liable for an offence committed by an innocent third party</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a concern about the doctrine of complicity?

    <p>That it may create a form of guilt by association</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is required for an individual to be liable as an accomplice?

    <p>They must have aided, abetted, or counselled the principal offender</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the difference between an accomplice and a principal offender?

    <p>An accomplice does not complete the actus reus and mens rea of the offence themselves, while a principal offender does</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a characteristic of complicity?

    <p>It creates a form of general liability, applying across the criminal law</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is required for an individual to be liable as a principal offender?

    <p>They must have completed the actus reus and mens rea of the offence themselves</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a complexity of complicity?

    <p>It requires discussion of D's actus reus, mens rea as to her own conduct, and mens rea as to a future principal offence</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a consequence of complicity?

    <p>Where the accomplice is liable, they are labelled and punished in the same way as the principal offender</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the requirement to prove in applying the broad interpretation of ROWE case?

    <p>D's assistance did contribute to the commission of the offence</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the condition to establish a connection between D's encouragement and P's offence?

    <p>P must be aware of D's encouragement</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the requirement for procuring to be considered as an alternative to aiding, abetting, or counselling?

    <p>D must have played a causal role in the principal offence</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the leading case for procuring?

    <p>AG's reference</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the requirement for D's MR as to her own conduct?

    <p>D's conduct must be performed voluntarily and with intent to assist or encourage P</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the role of conditional intention in D's MR as to her own conduct?

    <p>It can be satisfied by either direct or oblique intention</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the requirement for D's MR as to the principal offence?

    <p>D must intend that P will commit the offence and know the essential elements of P's offence</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the implication of D's knowledge in the context of D's MR as to the principal offence?

    <p>D's knowledge is satisfied by mere foresight of risk</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What happens if P commits a less serious principal offence than D intended?

    <p>D is liable for the inchoate offence of assisting or encouraging the more serious offence</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the reason why D may be liable as an accomplice to the more serious offence even though it is not completed by P?

    <p>Because P lacks the essential elements of the offence</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What determines D's liability as an accessory?

    <p>P's actus reus</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What happens to D's liability if P lacks mens rea for the principal offence?

    <p>D's liability is also minimised</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is an exception to D's derivative liability?

    <p>Where D acted with mens rea for a more serious principal offence</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What happens if P commits a more serious offence than intended by D?

    <p>D's liability is limited to the intended offence</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is an exception to D's liability where P commits a constructive liability offence?

    <p>D can be liable as an accomplice without mens rea for the result element</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What happens if P commits an offence different from that intended by D?

    <p>D's liability is unaffected</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is an overwhelming supervening event (OSE)?

    <p>Where Ps unintended conduct severs the links required for complicity liability</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Can D rely on an OSE where D is claiming that the overwhelming event is a change of mens rea by P and D herself has the mens rea for the principal offence?

    <p>It is difficult to envision a case where it is possible</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a potential OSE example?

    <p>Where D intentionally assists an attack on a certain specific target and P intentionally attacks a different target</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the condition for transferred malice to operate in a case where P attempts to kill X but accidentally kills V?

    <p>P's intention to kill X is transferred to V</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the basis for establishing an OSE where P carries out the principal offence as planned?

    <p>There is no OSE in this case</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the condition for D to be liable for crime B in a joint enterprise scenario?

    <p>D had foreseen as a possibility that P might commit crime B with MR</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What type of offence can D be complicit in, apart from substantive offences?

    <p>Inchoate offences</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the effect of D withdrawing from assisting or encouraging P to commit the principal offence?

    <p>D can limit her liability to the inchoate charge and avoid complicity liability</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the victim rule in relation to complicity?

    <p>A person within the protected class is not complicit if they assist, encourage, or procure the offence to be committed against themselves</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is OSE in the context of complicity?

    <p>Occasional Secondary Event</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the relationship between complicity and inchoate liability?

    <p>D can be complicit in an inchoate offence</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the general rule for OSE in relation to the change of target?

    <p>There will be no OSE where the change of target is unintentional</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is joint enterprise liability in the context of complicity?

    <p>A separate route to complicity</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Study Notes

    Parties to a Crime/Complicity

    • D's liability derives from proof of the principal offense, not from P's conviction for it
    • D's liability depends on proof that their acts were relevant to a principal offense that has been committed by another party

    Uncertainty: Principal Offenders and Accomplices

    • Legal uncertainties: separating principal offenders and accomplices can emerge in cases of innocent agency
    • Factual uncertainties: factual problems separating principal offenders and accomplices can emerge in cases where D's role in the principal offense is unclear

    Complicity by Aiding, Abetting, Counselling, or Procuring

    • D is labelled and punished as if they committed the principal offense
    • Cases begin by identifying the crime that P has committed, and then discuss D's actus reus and mens rea in relation to that principal offense

    Actus Reus of Aiding, Abetting, Counselling, or Procuring

    • D's conduct only needs to satisfy one of these terms to complete the actus reus
    • Aiding: assisting at the time P commits the principal offense or in advance of the offense
    • Abetting: encouraging, including instigating or emboldening, or discouraging by threatening
    • Counselling: encouraging, including instigating or emboldening
    • Can D assist or encourage by omission? Yes, in certain circumstances

    Must D Cause P's Offense?

    • No casual link is necessary for inchoate assisting or encouraging
    • D's liability in complicity derives from P's completion of a crime

    Principal or Accomplice

    • D as a principal offender: completes the AR and MR elements of the principal offense
    • D as a coprincipal: each actor completes the AR and MR of the offense
    • D as a principal via innocent agency: uses a party as a tool to commit an offense, and that party is unaware of the circumstances that would make their acts criminal
    • D as an accomplice: aids, abets, counsels, or procures P to commit the offense and P does so

    Mens Rea of Aiding, Abetting, Counselling, or Procuring

    • D's MR as to her own conduct: voluntarily performing the actus reus, and intending to assist or encourage P

    • D's MR as to the principal offense: intending that P will commit the offense and knowing the essential elements of P's offense### Omission to Secure Escape (OSE)

    • No OSE where P's change of target is unintentional

    • P's mens rea (intention to kill X) is transferred to V if P attempts to kill X but accidentally kills V

    • Same is true for D: her mens rea (intention of P killing X) is also transferred to V

    Qualifications for OSE

    • No OSE if the change is insubstantial
    • Unlikely to be an OSE where P carries out the principal offence as planned and goes on to commit an additional event of the same type

    OSE and Factual Differences

    • Factual differences that break the nexus of responsibility between D and the principal offence may establish an OSE
    • P acting in a considerably more dangerous way than that intended by D may be a basis for establishing an OSE

    Joint Enterprise Liability

    • Joint enterprise liability is a separate route to complicity
    • Involves a coordination of behavior between D and P towards a common criminal end
    • D is liable for Crime B if D had foreseen as a possibility that P might commit it with MR, and the manner in which P did so was not fundamentally different from what D had foreseen might happen

    Complicity and Inchoate Liability

    • D may be complicit in inchoate offences such as conspiracy to rape or assisting murder
    • D assists, encourages, or procures the inchoate offence, and P goes on to commit that inchoate offence

    Defences

    • General defences and denials of offending apply to complicity as all other criminal offences
    • Withdrawal: D cannot negate inchoate liability if she later withdraws by removing or renouncing her assistance or encouragement
    • However, if D successfully withdraws in time, D will be able to limit her liability to the inchoate charge and avoid complicity liability

    The Victim Rule

    • Applies to offences designed to protect a specific class of victim
    • Someone within that class is not complicit where they assist, encourage, or procure the offence to be committed against themselves
    • Defence will not apply to D within the protected class if she assists or encourages P to commit the offence against another person within that class

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    Test your understanding of accomplice liability in criminal law, including the roles of parties to a crime and the concept of complicity. Review the circumstances under which accomplices can be held liable and the additional blameworthiness derived from their actions.

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