Criminal Liability Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Criminal Liability - Coursework Example The paper tells that criminal law is a body of statutes and rules that deals with crimes and their punishment; the law defines conduct that is prohibited because it can harm, endanger or threaten the welfare and safety of the public. Fitzerald is aged 13 years and is engaging in behaviours that can threaten public safety; he threw stones at passing car and it hit Gordon’s car and severely injured Gordon. In the second instance, he threw a stone at Dan but missed him and hit John instead. In advising Fitzerald, I will tell him the following legal facts relating to his behaviour; one, under UK law, age 13 years (his age) is under the age of criminal responsibility. Therefore, his behaviour should not be based on the assumption that because he considers himself a child he cannot be found guilty of a crime. As a matter of fact, within England and Wales, a child over the age of 10 years is considered to be responsible for crime as a result of their actions and should face legal con sequences if found guilty. Children below the age of ten years are considered doli incapax and are therefore not capable of forming criminal intent. The law assumes that children under the age of 10 years do not adequately understand differences between right and wrong acts and cannot be responsible for their actions. But children over 10 years are assumed to understand this difference just like adults and can be tried for their actions which may be deemed to amount to a crime. In addition, I will advise Fitzerald on what constitutes a crime according to the law. Glazebrook (2011, p. 49) explains that a person can be found guilty of a crime if it can be proven that that person had intended to commit the act before. Secondly, a crime can be committed through reckless actions of a person; that is, a person not caring about the consequences of his or her actions. Therefore, in Fitzerald situation it is clear that he can be accused from the two perspectives of what constitute a crime. F or example, in the first instance where he was throwing stones at passing cars, it can be said he did that with an intention to harm motorists or he was simply reckless and did care about the consequences of his actions. In the second instance, he had intention to hit Dan but he missed and hit John instead. In both instances, his actions can cause harm to the public and threatens public safety as well. Without doubt his actions which can be supported by substantial evidence in the court of law can result to him being charged and convicted. I will let him know what will inform the decision to convict him in court; one of the major reasons will be retribution which will make him ‘suffer’ in some way as a punishment of harming and making others suffer due to his actions (Mitchell and Farrar, 2008, p. 70). The second reason for his punishment will be rehabilitation. Law Library of Congress (2011) notes that the main aim of punishing criminal offenders especially children is to transform them into members of society who are valuable and can coexist peacefully with others. I will tell him that rehabilitation will aim at preventing future offense through convincing him that his conduct was wrong. Thus, in the light of the legal facts that I will have given to him, I will advise him to desist from such acts in the future to avoid being arrested. Instead, he should divert his time and energy to more constructive activities such as reading. Q2: A’s Criminal Liability and B’s Possible Legal Position Considering the circumstances surrounding the incident involving person A and B, A is not criminally liable for his actions because the intent to cause