Introductory description

This module encourages an advanced understanding of the general rules and principles of criminal law and its operation within society.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

The first part of the module involves a study of the general principles of liability coupled with a consideration of the law in its social context. Particular topics to be covered include: actus reus (voluntary action, causation, omissions), mens rea (intention, recklessness, strict liability), defences of capacity (automatism, insanity, mistake and intoxication) and homicide (murder, manslaughter and assisted suicide).

The second part of the course focuses on some more specific offences, including non-fatal offences, sexual offences and property offences (theft). We will also consider other general defences (self-defence, duress and necessity), liability for those who participate in crime, and principles of inchoate liability (such as attempts to commit crime), and review them and other general principles in the context of new forms of control and liability.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Understand the key concepts, structure and issues of English Criminal Law
• Have a detailed knowledge of some criminal offences and defences
• Have some knowledge of criminal procedure and an understanding of the significance of procedure in the administration of criminal law and justice
• Have a critical understanding of philosophical theories criminalisation and criminal liability
• Have a critical understanding and appreciation of the historical, political and social contexts in which criminal law is developed and reformed
• Be able to read, analyse and discuss criminal cases and statutes
• Be able to apply legal knowledge in solving hypothetical problems of high complexity
• Be able to critically employ and assess historical, philosophical and political arguments about the scope of criminal liability and the development of criminal policy
• Be able to present and assess arguments for or against criminalisation or de-criminalisation or particular conducts and outcomes, taking into account the social context of the criminal law
• Be able to work collaboratively in class to complete a defined task
• Be able to present arguments orally in class
• Be able to independently research relevant legal and related scholarship to ground their arguments and understanding

Indicative reading list

S. Kyd, T. Elliott and M. A. Walters, Clarkson & Keating
Criminal Law: Texts and Materials (9th edition, Sweet &
Maxwell, 2017)
M. D. Dubber and T. Hörnle (eds), The Oxford Handbook of
Criminal Law (Oxford University Press, 2014)
A. Liebling, S. Maruna and L. McAra (eds), The Oxford
Handbook of Criminology (6th edition, Oxford University Press,
2017)
J. Horder, Ashworth's Principles of Criminal Law (8th edition,
Oxford University Press, 2016)
A. Norrie, Crime, Reason and History: A Critical Introduction to
Criminal Law (3rd edition, Cambridge University Press, 2014)
C. Wells and O. Quick, Lacey, Wells and Quick:
Reconstructing Criminal Law (4th edition, Cambridge
University Press, 2010)

View reading list on Talis Aspire

Subject specific skills

Case reading and analysis, statute reading and analysis, doctrinal analysis, socio-legal analysis

Transferable skills

Independent research, academic drafting and writing, time management, argumentation