[go: up one dir, main page]
Wikipedia

Encouraging or assisting a crime in English law: Difference between revisions

Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
AnomieBOT (talk | contribs)
Bots
6,471,957 edits
m Dating maintenance tags: {{Who}}
No edit summary
 
(7 intermediate revisions by 7 users not shown)
Line 1:
{{Short description|Inchoate criminal offence in England and Wales}}
'''Encouraging or assisting a crime''' is itself a crime in [[English law]], by virtue of the [[Serious Crime Act 2007]]. It is one of the [[inchoate offences in English law|inchoate offences of English law]].▼
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2019}}
▲'''Encouraging or assisting a crime''' is itself a crime in [[English criminal law]], by virtue of the [[Serious Crime Act 2007]]. It is one of the [[inchoate offences in English law|inchoate offences of English law]].
 
==Definition==
Line 7 ⟶ 10:
The offences of encouraging or assisting crime under the [[Serious Crime Act 2007]] are inchoate offences.<ref>Ormerod, David. Smith and Hogan's Criminal Law. Thirteenth Edition. Oxford University Press. 2011. p. 402.</ref> In each case, the ''actus reus'' requirement is that the defendant carry out an act capable of "encouraging or assisting" the commission of another offence. An offence is committed under section 44, if this is done with intent to do the same; under section 45 if it is done "believing that the offence will be committed and that the act will encourage or assist its commission"; or under section 46 where there are multiple possible offences being encouraged or assisted, and at least one is foreseen.<ref>Simester et al. (2010). p. 287.</ref> In contrast to statutory crimes still reliant on incitement, there is no need for the defendant to have communicated his thoughts to anyone else. For example, the act is when a letter is posted; it is not reliant on it being received by the person being incited. Since this is very wide, the courts will have to narrow it by some criterion, probably by reference to the remoteness of the encouragement to the crime. Failing to act when under a duty to do so would also qualify.<ref>Simester et al. (2010). p. 291.</ref>
 
"Encouraging" is not defined in the statute and can be considered in the same way as the previous crime of incitement. It does not matter if the encouragement or assistance has no effect.<ref>Simester et al. (2010). p. 288.</ref> In ''[[Invicta Plastics Ltd v Clare]]'',<ref>[1976] RTR 251 (DC)</ref> a company sold a device to detect [[Radar gun|radar traps]] used by the police; using such a device is illegal. The case also confirmed that there is no need for the incitement to be aimed at a specific person – addressing it to the world at large still constitutes incitement.<ref name=her793>Herring (2008). p. 793.</ref> It was advertised illustrating its use in an illegal fashion.<ref name="sim289">Simester et al. (2010) p. 289.</ref> However, in ''R v. James''<ref>''R v James'' (1985) 82 Crim LR 897 (CA)</ref> the selling of "black boxes" solely capable of illegally tapping mains electricity sources was not found to incite a crime.<ref name="sim289"/> In ''R v. Marlow''<ref>''R v Marlow'' [1997] Crim LR 897 (CA)</ref> providing information on the growing of cannabis was found to constitute an offence.<ref name="sim289"/> "Assisting" is likely to be considered similar to "aiding" in [[Accessory (legal term)|accessorial liability]]. Assistance can be provided indirectly, for example through a third person.<ref>Simester et al. (2010). p. 290.</ref>
 
Whereas incitement can only be committed when the defendant incites the [[Principal (criminal law)|principal offender]], the crime of "encouraging or assisting" includes helping an accessory.<ref>Simester et al. (2010). p. 292.</ref> Whilst a section 44 offence can be committed in relation to other inchoate offences (including itself), sections 45 and 46 cannot. Crimes which are, in fact rather than law, impossible to commit yet &ndash; but will be &ndash; also fall under this offence.<ref>Simester et al. (2010). p. 293.</ref>
Line 15 ⟶ 18:
 
==Specific defences==
There is no defence of later withdrawing from the act; however, there is one of "acting reasonably" under Section 50. This takes two forms: either that the acts themselves were reasonable; or that the defendant reasonably believed in circumstances which did not exist and acted reasonably under those circumstances. The existence of this defence has been attacked by professors of criminal law Andrew Simester{{who|date=January 2019}} and Bob Sullivan{{who|date=January 2019}} on the grounds it may be acting as a "sop" to counteract excess brevity in other sections of the act.<ref>Simester et al. (2010). p. 298&ndash;99.</ref> Victims are extended the "Tyrell" defence &ndash; that one cannot aid, abet, counsel or procure an offence against oneself &ndash; although exactly when a victim is protected can be unclear.<ref>Simester et al. (2010). p. 299&ndash;300.</ref>
 
==References==
Line 21 ⟶ 24:
{{reflist|30em}}
===Bibliography===
*{{cite book|last=Herring|first=Jonathan|title=Criminal Law: Text, Cases and Materials|edition=3rd|year=2008|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=978-0-19-923432-5|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/criminallawtextc0000herr_w3n9}}
*{{cite book |title=Simester and Sullivan's Criminal Law: Theory and Doctrine |first1=A. P. |last1=Simester |first2=G. R.|last2=Sullivan|first3=J. R. |last3=Spencer |first4=G. |last4=Virgo |edition=4 |year=2010 |isbn= 978-1-84113-922-7 |publisher=Hart Publishing|location=Oxford}}
 
{{Types of crime}}
{{English criminal law navbox}}
 
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encouraging_or_assisting_a_crime_in_English_law"