Criminal law: the core course

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22 lessons · about 4 h

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By the end of this path

Analyze individual liability, participation, defences and sentencing in order. The first six lessons also form the introductory foundations route.

The syllabus

From the course General Principles of Criminal Law
1. Introduction to General Criminal Law
  Identify the sources of criminal law and the structure of the analysis.
  Up next9 minStep 1
2. Classification of Offences
  Distinguish fault categories from procedural classifications.
  11 minStep 2
3. Actus Reus: The Material Element of the Offence
  Establish the required conduct, circumstances and consequences.
  11 minStep 3
4. Subjective Mens Rea: The Mental Element of the Offence
  Identify the accused’s actual intention, knowledge or awareness of risk.
  11 minStep 4
5. Objective Mens Rea: The Mental Element of the Offence
  Apply the relevant objective fault standard.
  10 minStep 5
6. Actus Reus & Mens Rea: Coincidence and Common-Sense Inference
  Connect conduct and fault in time and assess permissible inferences.
  10 minStep 6
7. Participation in Offences by Natural Persons
  Determine each person’s role and required fault.
  11 minStep 7
8. Inchoate and Accessory Offences
  Distinguish attempts, counselling, conspiracy and assistance after the offence.
  10 minStep 8
9. Preliminary Considerations in Criminal Defences
  Identify the defence’s legal function, evidentiary threshold and burden.
  10 minStep 9
10. Mistake of Fact and Mistake of Law
  Connect a factual or legal mistake to the applicable liability rule.
  12 minStep 10
11. Consent, Age, Alibi and Other Defence Issues
  Separate consent, age and alibi from other arguments about liability.
  12 minStep 11
12. Mental Disorder Defence
  Distinguish responsibility at the time of the act from fitness during proceedings.
  13 minStep 12
13. Automatism
  Analyze conscious control, classification and the corresponding outcome.
  8 minStep 13
14. Intoxication
  Apply intoxication rules with the mental-state distinctions already established.
  11 minStep 14
15. Self-Defence, Obedience to Law & Correction of Children
  Identify when defensive or authorized force is legally permitted.
  11 minStep 15
16. Necessity, Duress & Impossibility
  Distinguish emergency, coercion and objective inability to comply.
  12 minStep 16
17. Provocation
  Apply the conditions of the partial defence to murder.
  9 minStep 17
18. Entrapment
  Distinguish an abuse-of-process remedy from a defence to guilt.
  9 minStep 18
19. Sentencing Principles
  Evaluate proportionality, sentencing objectives and the offender’s circumstances.
  13 minStep 19
20. Sentencing Range & Options
  Identify available sanctions and their legal conditions.
  16 minStep 20
21. Sentencing Evidence and Procedure
  Establish sentencing facts and understand the hearing and joint submissions.
  12 minStep 21
22. Person-Specific Orders in Criminal Law
  Distinguish prohibitions, registration and other orders concerning individuals.
  15 minStep 22

An independently curated sequence. Every lesson also lives in its own course, and your progress is shared between the two.