NCJ Number
198278
Journal
Judicial Officer's Bulletin Volume: 13 Issue: 11 Dated: December 2001 Pages: 81-92
Date Published
December 2001
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This bulletin provides a discussion of the newly implemented Chapter 2 of the Commonwealth Criminal Code, in New South Wales, Australia, and also provides information on recent decisions of the High Court and an Education Calendar for 2002.
Abstract
This article provides a brief outline and explanation of the Chapter 2 of the New South Wales Commonwealth Criminal Code, with particular attention to Part 2.2, the elements of an offense. It describes Chapter 2 as setting out the conceptual vocabulary for the analysis of the elements of liability, with the goal of exerting a significant influence over the development of the general principles of criminal responsibility in State and territorial jurisdictions. This article begins with an overview of both Chapters 1 and 2 of the Code, with Chapter 1 stating that the only offenses against the laws of the Commonwealth are those created by Commonwealth statute. This article goes on to describe the purpose and application of Chapter 2, Part 2.1; the elements of an offense in Part 2.2; the circumstance in which there is no criminal responsibility in 2.3; the extensions of liability in 2.4; the corporate and criminal safety in 2.5; proof of criminal responsibility in 2.6; and geographical jurisdiction in 2.7. A more detailed discussion of the elements of an offense, as found in Part 2.2, is provided on this article. The faults and presumptions of fault are detailed, as found in sections 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 6.1, and 6.2. Fault and grades of culpability are described as elements of the Code that resemble a staircase of descending culpability. A section on applying the principles of element analysis discusses the practical application of drafting criminal offenses. The article concludes with brief reflections involving significant issues in the jurisprudence of criminal responsibility.