One of the reasons I have a copy of Archbold Criminal Pleading and Precedent is that it occasionally contains useful and even interesting commentary that can't be easily found elsewhere on common law offences, especially those that are at least archaic (which is nearly all of them), if not completely esoteric. (I'm not completely nuts …
Tag: common law offences triable summarily
Committals to go?
The issue of abolishing committals is back in the spotlight again. The proposal seems to have come around every few years for the past two decades, like Batman films.The Australian Institute of Criminology ran a conference on committals back in 1990. It's interesting to read the papers, because the arguments for and against appear similar …
Common law offences triable summarily
Section 28 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2009 provides that common law offences punishable by not more than 10 years imprisonment or referred to in Schedule 2 may be heard summarily (as long as the requirements of s 29 are satisfied). Penalties for common law offences are set out in s 320 of the Crimes …
Unlawful assembly requires cooperation, not just togetherness
An offence of violent disorder contrary to s 2(1) of the Public Order Act 1986 (UK) — similar to unlawful assembly, contrary to common law — requires only that three or more people are in the same place at the same time. It's not necessary to prove they deliberately acted in combination with each other.In …
Continue reading Unlawful assembly requires cooperation, not just togetherness
Wilful and obscene exposure
What’s the difference between the common law offence of wilful exposure and the statutory offence of obscene exposure?The location where the offence might occur is the main difference. Statutory obscene exposure must occur in or within view of a public place.Common law wilful exposure can occur anywhere, provided that the exposure was seen by one …