Criminal law worksheet with answers

An omission (failure to act) can lead to criminal liability when:

1. AAny person failed to help a stranger
2. BThe defendant was asleep
3. CNever, in any legal system
4. DThe defendant had a legal duty to act

Which Act provides the statutory framework for reasonable force in self-defence and householder cases in England and Wales?

1. AThe Sexual Offences Act 2003
2. BThe Human Rights Act 1998
3. CThe Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984
4. DThe Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008

An "inchoate offence" is:

1. AAn offence committed before the intended crime is completed, such as attempt
2. BAn offence that can only be tried in the magistrates' court
3. CAn offence that requires no mental element at all
4. DAn offence committed by a child below the minimum age of criminal responsibility

In English law, the mens rea of murder is:

1. ASubjective recklessness as to causing death or serious harm
2. BIntention to kill or to cause grievous bodily harm
3. CNegligence in causing death
4. DIntention to frighten the victim

D, carrying an imitation gun and a threatening note, walks towards a post office to rob it but is arrested outside before entering. Under the Criminal Attempts Act 1981, D is most likely guilty of:

1. ARobbery, because the intention was proved
2. BBurglary, because D intended to enter the building
3. CNothing as attempted robbery yet, because D has not gone beyond preparation
4. DAttempted robbery, because D was carrying an imitation gun and a threatening note

D drives a car she believes is her own, but which is actually V's identical car. She is not guilty of theft because:

1. ACars cannot be stolen under the Theft Act
2. BThe car was insured by V
3. CShe returned it the next morning
4. DShe is not dishonest and lacks intent to deprive another

In R v Lloyd (1985), a cinema employee lent films to be copied and returned them within hours. The court held there was no theft because:

1. ACopying films was not illegal at the time
2. BFilms are intangible property that cannot be stolen
3. CThe films were returned with their "goodness or virtue" not wholly exhausted
4. DThe employee had the cinema's permission to borrow the films for a short time

In Airedale NHS Trust v Bland (1993), the House of Lords held that withdrawing life-sustaining treatment from a patient in a persistent vegetative state:

1. AWas lawful only because the patient's family had given consent, which is required for any such withdrawal
2. BWas lawful because the patient had made an advance decision
3. CWas a positive act of killing, amounting to murder
4. DWas an omission that was lawful because continued treatment was no longer in the patient's best interests