CRIMINAL LAW 202

WORKSHEET 1: March 2023

Topics: 1 - 3

1. A law prohibiting smoking in restaurants comes into effect on the 1 6. X attacks V with the intention of raping her. In an effort to escape, V
February 2023. The next day X, the owner of a restaurant, lays a charge runs across a busy road. V is struck and killed by a bus. This scenario
against Y because Y smoked in his restaurant since 31 December 2022. concerns the element of:
Discuss. A. causation;
B. criminal capacity;
2. X is charged with assault. He has 4 previous convictions for assault. X C. mens rea;
pleads not guilty. The magistrate knows him well and says: “you are a D. conduct;
habitual criminal. You probably did commit this crime”. At the end of E. unlawfulness.
the trial, X is found guilty. Discuss.
7. X steals V’s MP3 player. X is 9 years old. The scenario concerns the
3. The SA criminal justice system is inquisitorial. Discuss. element of:
A. mens rea;
4. X is aware that Y is planning to murder V. Does X have a legal duty to B. criminal capacity;
expose Y and his plans. Discuss. C. conduct;
D. unlawfulness;
Choose the most correct option: E. causation.

5. The essential elements of a crime are: 8. In a normal criminal trial:

A. conduct, criminal capacity, unlawfulness and the principle of legality; A. the accused may not plead not guilty;
B. mens rea, causation, conduct, lawfulness and criminal capacity; B. the accused may plead guilty;
C. unlawfulness, mens rea, conduct, criminal capacity and causation; C. the plea must be followed by the verdict;
D. fault, conduct, causation and the presumption of innocence; D. the accused who pleads not guilty must be found not guilty;
E. conduct, causation, morality, mens rea and criminal incapacity. E. the standard of proof is beyond all doubt, except in cases of insanity;
F. the accused will be convicted if he acted with mens rea in the form of
dolus.
9. Which element of criminal liability is at issue in these scenarios? Discuss fully, with reference to the relevant case law, the possible criminal
A. X rapes V. X is mentally retarded. liability of:
B. X strikes V while X is having an epileptic seizure.
C. X shoots V after being ordered to do so by his sergeant.
(a) Jim in respect of malicious damage to Mary’s shop;
D. X beats V unconscious. Y strangles the unconscious V.
E. X shoots V because she thinks he is a burglar. He is in fact her husband. (b) Jim for contravening Act 22 of 2023.

10. In South African criminal law:

A. criminal capacity is an exception to the general rule that mental
elements are tested objectively;
B. negligence is an exception to the general rule that mental elements are
tested objectively;
C. mens rea is an exception to the general rule that mental elements are
tested subjectively;
D. criminal capacity is an exception to the general rule that mental
elements are tested subjectively;
E. none of the above.

11 Essay Question:
Jim and Tom are walking home together after a soccer game. Jim is struck
by a reckless driver in a hit-and-run accident. He is not seriously injured,
but he is flung from the pavement through Mary’s shop window. The
window is destroyed. Mary lays a charge of malicious damage to property
against Jim.

Jim is arrested by the police while sitting on a park bench on 28 January

2023. On 29 January 2023, Parliament passes the No Sitting on Park
Benches Act 22 of 2023, criminalising sitting on park benches. Jim is also
charged with having contravened Act 22 of 2023.