National Police Promotion Framework (NPPF) Step 2 Legal Exam (OSPRE Part 1) Crime Syllabus

Crime syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Crime in National Police Promotion Framework (NPPF) Step 2 Legal Exam (OSPRE Part 1), not a summary of it.

1. 1

   General Principles of Criminal Liability

   5 topics

   • Actus Reus and Mens Rea
     • Conduct, consequence and circumstance elements
     • Intention, recklessness and negligence as states of mind
     • Transferred malice and coincidence of actus reus and mens rea
     • Strict liability offences
   • Criminal Conduct and Omissions
     • Voluntary conduct requirement
     • Liability for failure to act where a duty exists
     • Causation: factual and legal, novus actus interveniens
   • Incomplete (Inchoate) Offences
     • Attempts under the Criminal Attempts Act 1981
     • Encouraging or assisting crime (Serious Crime Act 2007)
     • Conspiracy: statutory and common law
   • Parties to Offences
     • Principals and secondary parties (aiding, abetting, counselling, procuring)
     • Joint enterprise and withdrawal
   • General Defences
     • Self-defence and the use of reasonable force
     • Duress, necessity and duress of circumstances
     • Intoxication, insanity and automatism
     • Mistake and consent
2. 2

   Offences Against the Person

   5 topics

   • Assault and Battery
     • Common assault under s.39 Criminal Justice Act 1988
     • Apprehension of immediate unlawful force
     • Racially or religiously aggravated assaults
   • Wounding and Grievous Bodily Harm
     • Assault occasioning actual bodily harm (s.47 OAPA 1861)
     • Malicious wounding/inflicting GBH (s.20 OAPA 1861)
     • Wounding/causing GBH with intent (s.18 OAPA 1861)
   • Homicide
     • Murder and the partial defences (loss of control, diminished responsibility)
     • Voluntary and involuntary manslaughter
     • Corporate manslaughter and causing death by driving offences
   • Domestic Abuse and Controlling Behaviour
     • Controlling or coercive behaviour (Serious Crime Act 2015)
     • Stalking and harassment (Protection from Harassment Act 1997)
     • Non-fatal strangulation and suffocation
   • Threats and Child Protection Offences
     • Threats to kill (s.16 OAPA 1861)
     • Child cruelty and neglect (Children and Young Persons Act 1933)
     • Female genital mutilation offences
3. 3

   Property Offences

   5 topics

   • Theft
     • Definition under s.1 Theft Act 1968
     • Appropriation, property and belonging to another
     • Dishonesty and intention to permanently deprive
   • Robbery and Burglary
     • Robbery (s.8 Theft Act 1968) and use or threat of force
     • Burglary (s.9) and aggravated burglary (s.10)
     • Trespass and intention to commit ulterior offences
   • Fraud and Related Offences
     • Fraud by false representation, failing to disclose, and abuse of position
     • Possession and making of articles for use in fraud
     • Obtaining services dishonestly
   • Handling, Going Equipped and Making Off
     • Handling stolen goods (s.22 Theft Act 1968)
     • Going equipped for theft (s.25)
     • Making off without payment (Theft Act 1978)
   • Criminal Damage
     • Basic and aggravated criminal damage (Criminal Damage Act 1971)
     • Arson and lawful excuse
     • Threats and possession with intent to damage
4. 4

   Sexual Offences

   4 topics

   • Non-Consensual Offences
     • Rape (s.1 Sexual Offences Act 2003)
     • Assault by penetration and sexual assault
     • Causing sexual activity without consent
   • Consent and Belief in Consent
     • Definition of consent (s.74)
     • Evidential and conclusive presumptions (ss.75-76)
     • Reasonable belief in consent
   • Child Sexual Offences
     • Offences against children under 13
     • Child sex offences and abuse of position of trust
     • Grooming, sexual communication with a child and indecent images
   • Preparatory and Public Sexual Offences
     • Administering substances and committing offences with intent
     • Exposure, voyeurism and sexual activity in public lavatories
     • Sexual harm prevention and offences orders
5. 5

   Drugs, Firearms and Weapons

   3 topics

   • Controlled Drugs Offences
     • Classification of drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971
     • Possession and possession with intent to supply
     • Supplying, producing and cultivation offences
     • Psychoactive Substances Act 2016
   • Firearms
     • Definitions of firearm, ammunition and prohibited weapons
     • Possession, purchase and acquisition without a certificate
     • Criminal use of firearms and possession with intent
   • Offensive Weapons and Knives
     • Possession of an offensive weapon in a public place
     • Bladed and pointed articles (s.139 Criminal Justice Act 1988)
     • Threatening with weapons and sale to under-18s

Crime flashcards for National Police Promotion Framework (NPPF) Step 2 Legal Exam (OSPRE Part 1)

21 of 52 cards from the Crime deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. What are the two essential elements that must generally coincide to establish criminal liability for most offences?

   The actus reus (the guilty act — the physical conduct, circumstances and consequences) and the mens rea (the guilty mind — the required mental state). They must normally coincide in time (contemporaneity rule).

2. Define the principle of 'transferred malice' in criminal law.

   Where a defendant intends to commit a crime against one person or thing but the harm falls on another, the mens rea is 'transferred' to the actual victim. The malice can only transfer between the same type of offence (e.g. assault to assault), not between different offence types.

3. Distinguish 'direct intent' from 'oblique (indirect) intent'.

   Direct intent: the consequence is the defendant's aim or purpose. Oblique intent: the consequence is not the aim, but the defendant foresees it as a virtually certain result of their action (per R v Woollin), allowing the jury to find intent.

4. What test is used for recklessness in criminal law following R v G [2003]?

   A subjective test: a person acts recklessly where they are aware of a risk and, in the circumstances known to them, it is unreasonable to take that risk. The defendant must personally foresee the risk.

5. In what circumstances can an omission (a failure to act) give rise to criminal liability?

   Where there is a legal duty to act: a statutory duty, a contractual duty, a special relationship (e.g. parent/child), voluntary assumption of care, creating a dangerous situation (R v Miller), or duty arising from public office.

6. What is the chain of causation, and what is required to establish causation in result crimes?

   Both factual causation ('but for' the defendant's act the result would not have occurred) and legal causation (the act was a significant/operating cause and not so trivial as to be de minimis). A novus actus interveniens may break the chain.

7. List the three inchoate (incomplete) offences in English criminal law.

   1) Attempt (Criminal Attempts Act 1981); 2) Conspiracy (Criminal Law Act 1977 — statutory; plus common law conspiracy to defraud); 3) Encouraging or assisting an offence (Serious Crime Act 2007, replacing incitement).

8. Under the Criminal Attempts Act 1981, what is the actus reus and mens rea of a criminal attempt?

   Actus reus: doing an act that is 'more than merely preparatory' to the commission of an indictable offence. Mens rea: an intention to commit the full offence.

9. Can a person be guilty of attempting the impossible under the Criminal Attempts Act 1981?

   Yes. A person may be guilty of attempt even though the facts are such that the commission of the full offence is impossible (s.1(2)). Liability is judged on the facts as the defendant believed them to be.

10. What is the mens rea required for statutory conspiracy under the Criminal Law Act 1977?

    An agreement between two or more persons to pursue a course of conduct that will necessarily amount to or involve the commission of an offence. The parties must intend the agreement to be carried out.

11. Define a 'principal' and an 'accessory (secondary party)' to an offence.

    Principal: the person whose conduct directly satisfies the actus reus of the offence. Accessory/secondary party: one who aids, abets, counsels or procures the commission of the offence (Accessories and Abettors Act 1861, s.8), and is liable to be tried as a principal.

12. What are the four terms used to describe the conduct of a secondary party under s.8 Accessories and Abettors Act 1861?

    Aid (give help/assistance), Abet (encourage at the scene), Counsel (advise/encourage beforehand), and Procure (bring about by endeavour). A secondary party may be tried and punished as a principal offender.

13. Distinguish a 'general defence' from a specific (special) defence.

    A general defence (e.g. self-defence, duress, insanity, automatism, intoxication, mistake) may apply to a wide range of offences. A specific/special defence applies only to a particular offence (e.g. diminished responsibility and loss of control apply only to murder).

14. State the two-stage test for self-defence / use of force in the prevention of crime.

    1) Was the use of force necessary in the circumstances as the defendant honestly believed them to be (subjective)? 2) Was the degree of force reasonable in those circumstances (objective)? Governed by s.3 Criminal Law Act 1967 and s.76 Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008.

15. For the defence of duress by threats, what must the threat be, and what test applies?

    A threat of death or serious injury to the defendant or another, which the defendant reasonably believed would be carried out. The Graham test applies: (subjective) was the defendant compelled by the threat, and (objective) would a sober person of reasonable firmth sharing the defendant's characteristics have responded the same way? Duress is no defence to murder, attempted murder or treason.

16. Define common assault (technical assault) under s.39 Criminal Justice Act 1988.

    Any act by which a person intentionally or recklessly causes another to apprehend immediate and unlawful personal violence. No physical contact is required — apprehension of force is sufficient.

17. Define battery, and how does it differ from assault?

    Battery is the intentional or reckless application of unlawful force to another person. Unlike assault (which is causing apprehension of force), battery requires actual unlawful physical contact, however slight.

18. What is the offence and maximum penalty for assault occasioning actual bodily harm (s.47 Offences Against the Person Act 1861)?

    Committing an assault or battery that occasions (causes) actual bodily harm — harm that is more than trivial/transient (can include psychiatric injury). Mens rea is only that of the assault/battery. Maximum penalty: 5 years' imprisonment (triable either way).

19. Distinguish s.20 and s.18 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 (wounding/GBH).

    s.20: unlawfully and maliciously wound or inflict GBH — mens rea is intention or recklessness as to causing some harm; max 5 years. s.18: wound or cause GBH with intent to do GBH (or to resist/prevent lawful apprehension) — mens rea requires specific intent; max life imprisonment.

20. What constitutes a 'wound' for the purposes of ss.18 and 20 OAPA 1861?

    A break in the continuity of the whole skin (both the dermis and epidermis). A break of an internal membrane or a mere bruise/internal bleeding is not a wound. GBH, by contrast, means 'really serious harm'.

21. What are the two routes to liability for murder (the mens rea of murder)?

    Murder is the unlawful killing of a person under the King's Peace with 'malice aforethought', which means either: (1) an intention to kill, or (2) an intention to cause grievous bodily harm. The penalty is a mandatory life sentence.

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