Criminal law worksheet with answers

The defence of duress requires a threat of:

1. ADamage to one's property
2. BDeath or serious injury
3. CLosing one's job
4. DPublic embarrassment

The principle "nullum crimen sine lege" means that:

1. AJudges can create new crimes freely
2. BThere is no crime without a law defining it beforehand
3. CLaws apply retroactively
4. DAll crimes are punished with prison

Which of these is a "specific intent" offence in English law for the purposes of intoxication?

1. AMurder
2. BManslaughter
3. CBattery
4. DAssault occasioning actual bodily harm

D knocks over a candle by accident, sees a fire start, and walks away without doing anything. The house burns down. D is most likely:

1. ALiable, because D created a dangerous situation and failed to act
2. BLiable only if D intended to start the fire initially
3. CNot liable, because the law imposes no duty to act to protect property
4. DNot liable, because the fire started by accident

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

During a burglary, D has handed a knife to an accomplice. When someone arrives, D says "come on, let's go" and climbs out; the accomplice stabs the person. Following R v Becerra, D's withdrawal is:

1. AEffective, because any words of withdrawal are always enough
2. BIrrelevant, because once an accessory has supplied a weapon, no later act of withdrawal can ever relieve them of liability
3. CNot effective, because withdrawal must be timely and unequivocal and may need more than words once violence is imminent
4. DEffective, because D left before the crime was completed

Conspiracy in English law requires:

1. AAt least one of the conspirators to have carried out an overt act towards committing the agreed crime
2. BA written plan
3. CAn agreement between two or more people to commit a crime, with intent that it be carried out
4. DThe crime to be actually committed

Why is the principle of "lex certa" important in criminal law?

1. ALaws must be certain to be enforced, so the police have no discretion in applying them
2. BJudges must be certain before sentencing
3. COnly certain crimes can be prosecuted
4. DCriminal laws must be clear enough for people to foresee what is punishable