Preliminary Offences

What Preliminary Offences covers

Liability that arises before the full offence is carried out.

The 2 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• AttemptsRecall questions on the offence of attempt under section 1(1) of the Criminal Attempts Act 1981, the more than merely preparatory test and the roles of judge and jury, conditional intent, and why attempt requires intention as to consequences so that recklessness is not enough.Open →
• Impossibility and attemptRecall questions on factual and legal impossibility in criminal attempts with worked examples, the Criminal Attempts Act 1981 rule that impossibility is no bar to conviction, R v Shivpuri, and why there is no attempt where the act believed criminal is not an offence at all.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Preliminary Offences further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Attempt vs Conspiracy

  Attempt: an act more than merely preparatory to an offence, with intent to commit it. Conspiracy: an agreement between two or more to pursue a course of conduct amounting to an offence.

• More than merely preparatory vs Merely preparatory

  More than merely preparatory: conduct past the stage of getting ready, which founds an attempt. Merely preparatory: conduct still at the planning or equipping stage.

• Factual impossibility vs Legal impossibility

  Factual impossibility: where the full offence could not be committed but an attempt is still chargeable. Legal impossibility: where the intended conduct would not have been an offence at all.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What does the actus reus of attempt require in terms of the defendant's actions?

   Model answer

   An act that is more than merely preparatory to the commission of the full offence.

2. 2

   What level of mens rea is required for the offence of attempt?

   Model answer

   Intention to commit the full offence; recklessness as to a consequence is insufficient even where it would suffice for the full offence, but recklessness as to a circumstance can suffice (R v Khan 1990).

3. 3

   Why is recklessness as to a consequence insufficient for attempt even when it suffices for the complete offence?

   Model answer

   Attempt specifically requires intention to commit the full offence. The law demands a higher mental element for inchoate liability than may be required for the substantive offence. Recklessness as to a circumstance can still suffice where it suffices for the full offence (R v Khan 1990).

4. 4

   What does 'more than merely preparatory' mean in the context of attempt?

   Model answer

   The defendant must have embarked upon the crime proper, moving beyond planning or preparation into the actual commission of the offence.

5. 5

   How does the law distinguish between preparation and attempt?

   Model answer

   Preparation involves planning or getting ready, whereas attempt requires the defendant to have moved from preparation into actually embarking upon the commission of the crime itself.

6. 6

   Who decides whether an act is more than merely preparatory in a criminal trial?

   Model answer

   It is a question of fact for the jury, once the judge determines there is sufficient evidence to leave the issue to them.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Preliminary Offences revision questions

What does Preliminary Offences cover in OCR A-Level Law?

2 subtopics: attempts and impossibility and attempt. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Preliminary Offences organised?

By the OCR H418 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.