Key term
AQA A-Level Law 7162
The Nature of Law
Topic overviewDistributive and Corrective JusticeTheories of Justice: Rawls, Nozick and MarxWhat Law Does in SocietyHow Law and Morality Are EnforcedMoral Diversity in a Pluralist SocietyThe Hart-Devlin DebateProcedural Justice and UtilitarianismThe Rule of Law: Core RequirementsLaw, Rights and the Resolution of DisputesFault and Strict LiabilityWhere Law and Morality OverlapWolfenden and R v BrownAristotle on JusticeJustice through Civil and Criminal LawCriminal and civil law comparedCustom, statute and common law as sourcesEquality, Fairness and Clarity before the Law
The European Union and English Law
Legal Personnel and the Judiciary
Access to Justice and Funding
Parliamentary Law Making
Delegated Legislation
Statutory Interpretation
Judicial Precedent
Law Reform
The Civil Courts and Dispute Resolution
The Criminal Courts and Sentencing
Lay People: Magistrates and Juries
Criminal Law: Rules and Theory
General Elements of Liability
Fatal Offences Against the Person
Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person
Property Offences
Preliminary Offences
Criminal Defences
Tort: Rules and Theory
Negligence
Occupiers' Liability
Nuisance and Rylands v Fletcher
Vicarious Liability
Tort: Defences and Remedies
Contract: Rules and TheoryContract
Formation of a ContractContract
Contract TermsContract
Vitiating FactorsContract
Discharge of a ContractContract
Contract: RemediesContract
Human Rights: Rules and TheoryHuman rights
Topic overviewArticle 2 and Article 5: Life and LibertyArticle 11 and the Conditions for RestrictionRights, Liberties and Correlative DutiesThe Scope of Fundamental Human RightsArticle 2 Exceptions and the Article 5 GuaranteeInterfering with Article 8 RightsArticle 10: Freedom of Expression and Its LimitsThe Human Rights Act and Categories of Rights
Human Rights in International and UK LawHuman rights
The European Convention ArticlesHuman rights
Topic overviewFreedom of Association and Its LimitsArticle 2: Justified Deprivation of LifeArticle 5: Lawful Arrest and DetentionArticle 8: Private and Family LifeArticle 11: What It ProtectsArticle 2: Negative and Positive ObligationsThe Article 2.2 Exceptions in DetailArticle 5.1: Liberty and Security of PersonDetention under Article 5.1(a) to (c)Article 5.2 to 5.5: Information and ReviewArticle 10.1: Freedom of ExpressionWhich Paragraphs Permit RestrictionThe Grounds for Lawful DetentionEnforcing Rights in Strasbourg and by Judicial Review
Restrictions and EnforcementHuman rights
Topic overviewThe Common Requirements for RestrictionsLegitimate Aims and ProportionalityBringing a Claim to the Strasbourg CourtArticle 46, Judicial Review and Section 7 ClaimsPrescribed by Law and Necessary in a DemocracyLegitimate Aims for Restricting Articles 10 and 11Enforcement in Strasbourg and at HomeThe Two General Conditions for RestrictionLegitimate Aims across Articles 8, 10 and 11Who May Claim and How Rights Are EnforcedSupervising Judgments and Judicial Review Remedies
Reform of Human Rights LawHuman rights
Criminal Defences
- 5 subtopics
- 16 things to know
- Paper 1
What Criminal Defences covers
The capacity defences of insanity, automatism and intoxication, and the necessity defences of self-defence and duress.
The 5 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- Insanity and the M'Naghten RulesRecall questions on the verdict that follows, the case the rules derive from and the elements that must be proved.Open →
- Wrongness, Burden of Proof and AutomatismRecall questions on whether wrong means legal or moral, where the burden lies for insanity, and what automatism requires and produces.Open →
- Intoxication, Specific and Basic IntentRecall questions on which offences fall into each category, the mens rea sufficing for basic intent, and the effect of voluntary intoxication.Open →
- Self-Defence and the Prevention of CrimeRecall questions on the effect of the defence, when it is available, its relationship with the statutory power and the two-stage test.Open →
- Duress and Its LimitsRecall questions on the Graham test for duress by threats, the characteristics allowed under Bowen, the threat and its immediacy, why duress cannot excuse murder, voluntary association, duress of circumstances and necessity.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Key term
What is the first element that must be proved under the M'Naghten Rules?
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Under the M'Naghten Rules, what alternative cognitive failures can satisfy the test?
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On whom does the burden of proof lie for the insanity defence, and to what standard?
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What degree of loss of control is required for automatism according to Attorney-General's Reference No 2 of 1992?
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Who bears the evidential burden for automatism, and who bears the legal burden?
Numbers
Name three offences classified as specific intent crimes.
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How is voluntary intoxication treated in relation to the recklessness element of basic intent crimes?
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What is 'Dutch courage' in the context of intoxication?
Numbers
Can a defendant rely on self-defence if their belief in the need to use force was mistaken?
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What is the outcome if self-defence is successfully established?
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What happens to the defence of self-defence if the force used was disproportionate to the threat faced?
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What characteristics may be relevant to the second limb of duress according to Bowen?
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When will voluntary association with criminals prevent a defendant from relying on duress?
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For how long does the defence of duress of circumstances apply?
Process
Which case supplies the rules on insanity, and what must the defect of reason arise from?
Take Criminal Defences further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Actus reus vs Mens rea
Actus reus: external element of an offence. Mens rea: required mental element of an offence.
Intention vs Recklessness
Intention: aim or virtually certain consequence appreciated by the defendant. Recklessness: conscious taking of an unjustified risk.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What type of verdict results from a successful insanity defence?
Model answer
A special verdict of 'not guilty by reason of insanity' rather than a complete acquittal.
- 2
From which case do the legal rules for establishing insanity derive?
Model answer
The M'Naghten Rules (1843).
- 3
What is the first element that must be proved under the M'Naghten Rules?
Model answer
A defect of reason.
- 4
What must cause the defect of reason under the M'Naghten Rules?
Model answer
A disease of the mind.
- 5
Under the M'Naghten Rules, what alternative cognitive failures can satisfy the test?
Model answer
The defendant either did not know the nature and quality of their act, or did not know the act was wrong.
- 6
How did R v Clarke distinguish a defect of reason from a mere failure to use one's reasoning powers?
Model answer
A defect of reason requires the defendant's powers of reasoning to be impaired, not simply a failure to use those powers at the relevant time.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Criminal Defences revision questions
- What does Criminal Defences cover in AQA A-Level Law?
- 5 subtopics: insanity and the m'naghten rules, wrongness, burden of proof and automatism, intoxication, specific and basic intent, self-defence and the prevention of crime and duress and its limits. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Criminal Defences organised?
- By the AQA 7162 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Criminal Defences, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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