First Year: Criminal Law A (LAW124Y1Y)

This course examines the basic concepts of criminal law with particular emphasis on the elements of culpability and the conditions of excuse and justification. It seeks to understand the general part of the criminal law from the point of view of various perspectives on the aims and justification of punishment. Right-based and utilitarian theories of punishment are discussed and their implications for doctrine examined. The intersection of criminal law and the Charter forms another central theme of the course as does the distinction between criminal and public welfare offences. The aim is to understand the penal law as an integrated whole composed of several diverse but interconnected parts.