Legal Concepts in Criminal Law
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Questions and Answers

F labelling assumes that citizens can distinguish between different offences.

True

Overcharging by prosecutors helps to accurately reflect blame in legal cases.

False

The concept of TROL is irrelevant in F labelling.

False

The judgment of O’Regan focuses more on facts than on defining issues.

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

In the context of Coetzee, if a company is convicted, the directors are presumed innocent.

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

C's concern about creating more offences is linked to the violation of TROL.

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

F labelling does not create any self-defeating scenarios in the legal system.

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

The term 'servant' in the context of corporate criminal liability only refers to employees.

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

Violence must always precede the taking in order to constitute a robbery.

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

In the case of Yolelo, violence is described as necessary for a lawful taking.

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

A threat of violence made long after a theft can still be connected to the crime under certain principles.

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

The court has definitively ruled on the effects of violence occurring much later after the act of theft.

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

Violence that occurs independently from the act of theft can be considered robbery in all circumstances.

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

The principle of sufficient relationship applies to both violence preceding and following the theft.

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

For an event to be classified as robbery, there must be a direct and immediate connection between the violence and the taking.

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

The principle regarding robbery is considered uncontroversial in legal contexts.

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

Minimum sentencing legislation introduces variability in punishment to better serve justice.

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

Judges can depart from minimum sentences if they present substantial and compelling circumstances.

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

Judges are completely precluded from adopting a context-sensitive approach by the legislators’ rules.

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

The minimum sentencing framework consists of a one-stage process for determining punishment.

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

Justice Cameron believes judges should be held fully morally responsible for their decisions.

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

The interpretation of fair trial rights poses no challenges for judges within the minimum sentencing framework.

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

The attempt to achieve uniformity in sentencing is aligned with the values of TROL.

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

A mens rea requirement is necessary to convict someone in their capacity as a director.

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

A context-sensitive approach in sentencing can be adopted without any justification by judges.

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

The absence of mens rea is considered a significant problem in the discussion presented in Coetzee.

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

In the case of Masiya, the court concluded that only vaginal penetration counts as rape.

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

The principle of fair labelling in South African law implies that convictions must account for blameworthiness.

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

According to O’Regan, the principle of justice does not affect the right to not be arbitrarily deprived of liberty.

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

Presumption of innocence is fundamentally linked to concerns about assigning blame.

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

Theft always requires a complete deprivation of someone's property.

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

The prosecution is required to prove the defendant's presence at meetings to secure a conviction.

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

The discussions in Coetzee highlight a clear framework for how justice allocates blame in criminal convictions.

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

Under common law, mineral rights are considered a separate and independent right from property ownership.

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

Intention to appropriate is a necessary component of theft.

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

It is possible to unintentionally deprive someone of their property without intending to steal it.

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

Asset forfeiture units intend to keep seized assets permanently.

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

Historically, theft was considered a crime under common law.

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

A person can lawfully intentionally appropriate property if they have legal justification.

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

Depriving someone of property without legal justification is considered an unlawful act.

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

Judges like Zondo should not give deference to legislative schemes regarding punishment.

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

In the case of S V THEMBANI, negligence at the hospital contributed to the victim's death.

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

Cameron's argument focuses primarily on factual causation rather than legal causation.

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

The legal outcome in cases with intervening acts is straightforward and always leads to conviction.

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

There is consensus that negligence did not interrupt the causal chain of events in the stabbing case.

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

A novus actus interveniens is relevant in determining the remoteness of legal causation.

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

The courts have no power to decide on the legality of acquittal in cases involving negligence.

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

The victim in the case suffered a mortal grievous wound from a stabbing.

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

Study Notes

Criminal Law

  • Following on from the previous lecture, the second semester will delve deeper into the previous semester's material.
  • The key to understanding offences is applying principles to specific offences.
  • Fair labelling argues that offences should accurately describe their wrongfulness.
  • Criminal offences are not always blameworthy, sometimes they are regulatory offences
  • Wrongfulness is not an element, but it is a factor shaping a criminal act.
  • Blameworthiness refers to both fault and the conduct of the act.
  • Fair labelling outlines how offences are categorised in criminal law.
  • The law owes a duty to accurately determine blame.
  • Examples of fair labelling:
    • Murder has intention & killing, therefore considered more blameworthy than negligent killing.

Fair Labelling and Designing Offences

  • The concept of fair labelling, proposed by Burchell, argues that the wrongfulness of a particular offense must be accurately reflected in the criminal law's taxonomy.
  • The lecture notes explain how regulatory offences, such as not paying taxes, can be distinct from those that involve blameworthiness.
  • It explains that a criminal law must judge conduct's inherent wrongfulness to determine blame.
  • The concept of fair labelling in criminal law concerns issues of allocating blame, which involves assessing the fault and actions of individuals' conduct.
  • The lecture notes discuss fair labelling by examining the reputational interests of offenders.
  • Fair labelling is concerned with reflecting blameworthiness as offenders carry this reputation for life.
  • Difficulties in fair labelling can arise if mens rea (guilty mind) is not precisely determined.
  • It suggests the need to reform the system when fair labelling isn't allocated rightly.

Beyond Fair Labelling: Offence Differentiation

  • These concepts are in tension but also connected.
  • Emphasises the need to ground fair labelling.

Critically addresses the concern over the tendency of fair labelling to increase the number of offences.

  • Focuses on the importance of fair labelling, particularly for those who carry a label for life.

Criminal Procedure Act

  • The Criminal Procedure Act (CPA) sections were challenged in court.
  • The relevant sections were found to be unconstitutional by the court.
  • The challenge was to the rule that if a company is convicted, then everyone in that company involved is also convicted.
  • The court argued that it violated the presumption of innocence and the principle of fault.
  • The court reasoned that, apart from the issue of presumption of innocence, it could punish people fairly without having to conclude specific fault from actions.

Masiya v DPP

  • The case involved a challenge to the legal definition of rape with regard to the specific acts.
  • Debate about whether the definition of rape must include non-penatrative acts.
  • The Court considered the question of whether the acts of oral and anal penetration constitute rape.

S v Legoa

  • An accused was charged with the possession and trafficking of marijuana and this gave rise to an appeal hearing.
  • The court reasoned that this case was about applying the correct legal reasoning.
  • The court considered whether there was a sufficient connection between the charged crime and the violence.

S v Thebus

  • The case concerned the application of the principle of common purpose.
  • The accused was involved in a confrontation with a group.
  • This case involved a dispute over the appropriate application of common purpose liability for aggravated offence.

S v Yolelo

  • Involved the question of contemporaneous connection between the violent act and the unlawful act.
  • This relates to a case where the violence occurred after the act was complete, for instance.

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Description

Explore essential legal concepts and principles in criminal law through this quiz. Analyze key cases and theories such as F labelling, corporate criminal liability, and the role of violence in theft and robbery. Test your understanding of legal accountability and judicial interpretations in diverse contexts.

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