NCA Criminal Law cheat sheet

Actus reus requires a voluntary act or legally recognized omission; status alone and reflexive movements are not punishable, and omission liability arises only from statute, contract, relationship, or voluntary assumption of care.

Mens rea levels in descending culpability: intent (purpose), knowledge, recklessness, and negligence; subjective standards cover intent and recklessness, objective standards cover negligence.

Specific intent crimes (e.g., theft, murder in some formulations, attempt) require proof of the further purpose; general intent crimes require only intent to commit the prohibited act.

Causation in homicide: factual cause uses the 'but for' test; legal cause requires the death be a reasonably foreseeable result, unbroken by an intervening act that is independent and not reasonably foreseeable.

Thin-skull rule: the accused takes the victim as found, so pre-existing physical or psychological fragility does not break the chain of causation.

Transferred intent shifts the mens rea from the intended victim or object to the actual victim or object, but only between crimes of the same or lesser degree.

Mistake of fact negates mens rea where it is honest and, for most offences, reasonable; mistake of law generally does not excuse except for officially induced error or colour of right.

Concurrence requires the mens rea to coincide in time with the actus reus; a later-formed intent cannot retroactively supply the mental element.

NCR (NCRMD): a person is not criminally responsible if a mental disorder rendered them incapable of appreciating the nature and quality of the act or of knowing it was wrong; burden of proof on the party raising it on balance of probabilities.

Automatism requires involuntary conduct from a external cause (non-insane) or internal cause (insane automatism); self-induced intoxication is not automatism.

Self-defence under s. 34: force must be reasonable and used to protect against force or a threat of force, judged on the totality including the parties' history and the accused's perceptions.

Defence of property and defence of persons require proportionate force; excessive force removes the justification and may support a manslaughter or assault conviction.

Duress requires a threat of imminent death or serious bodily harm, no safe avenue of escape, and proportionality; it is unavailable to parties to murder or high treason.

Parties: a principal commits the actus reus; an aider or abettor must act with knowledge and intention to assist, and mere presence or passive acquiescence is insufficient.

Common intention under s. 21(2) requires a shared plan and a probable consequence that the accused knew or ought to have known would result.

Attempt requires conduct beyond mere preparation that is proximate to the completed offence, coupled with the specific intent to commit it; impossibility of the completed offence is generally no defence.

Conspiracy requires an agreement between two or more persons to commit an unlawful act, plus intention to carry out the agreement; the agreement itself completes the offence.