Announcements
Academy Documents
Please access the Students' Policies & Forms through this link. The following documents are all available in the link - Student Handbook, Student Code of Conduct, Students' Privacy Notice, Deferral, Suspension, and Cancellation Policy, Assignment Extension Policy, Re-Sit Policy, Complaints Procedure Policy, Equality Policy and Student Disciplinary Policy.
Online Sessions Link
To connect to the online sessions of this module please click on this link. You will be asked to register your attendance if you are not already signed in into your Zoom account. You will also be asked for the password which is below.
Meeting ID: 895 2231 9253
Passcode: 774625
Make sure that you show with your name & surname as you have been registered for the study programme. This is very important for attendance purposes.
Lecture Schedule & Notes
Lecture notes will be available during the week following the respective lecture. Schedule dates are indicative and may change. All changes, if any, may be communicated via email, SMS or telephone calls.
Lecturer/s
Lecture Summaries & Suggested Reading
Lecture 1 - The Nature of a Criminal Offence
- Defining a criminal offence
- The difference between a criminal wrong and a civil wrong
Core Reading List
- The Criminal Code, Chapter 9 of the Laws of Malta.
- The Interpretation Act, Chapter 249 of the Laws of Malta
- Mamo, A.J., Notes on Criminal Law, Malta
- Smith, J. and Hogan, B., 2011. Criminal law. London: Butterworths LexisNexis.
Supplementary Reading List
- Antolisei, F. and Grosso, C., 2016. Manuale di diritto penale. Milano: Giuffrè.
- Horder, J., 2019. Ashworth's Principles of Criminal Law. 9th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lecture 2 - The Classification of Criminal Offences
- Commission and omission
- Formal and material offences
- Simple and complex offences
- Instantaneous and continuing
- Crimes and contraventions
- Indictable & non-indictable and triable either way
- Depenalised offences
Core Reading List
- The Criminal Code, Chapter 9 of the Laws of Malta.
- The Interpretation Act, Chapter 249 of the Laws of Malta
- Mamo, A.J., Notes on Criminal Law, Malta
- Smith, J. and Hogan, B., 2011. Criminal law. London: Butterworths LexisNexis.
Supplementary Reading List
- Antolisei, F. and Grosso, C., 2016. Manuale di diritto penale. Milano: Giuffrè.
- Horder, J., 2019. Ashworth's Principles of Criminal Law. 9th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lecture 3 - The Main Offences under Maltese Law
- Material and formal conditions of liability
o actus reus
o mens rea (dolo, culpa etc.)
o specific intent - Negligence or Culpa
o negligence in the Maltese Criminal Code
o contributory negligence
o the victim's consent - Operation of the Criminal Law
o limitation by time
o limitation by territory - Extradition / European Arrest Warrant
Core Reading List
- The Criminal Code, Chapter 9 of the Laws of Malta.
- The Interpretation Act, Chapter 249 of the Laws of Malta
- Mamo, A.J., Notes on Criminal Law, Malta
- Smith, J. and Hogan, B., 2011. Criminal law. London: Butterworths LexisNexis.
Supplementary Reading List
- Antolisei, F. and Grosso, C., 2016. Manuale di diritto penale. Milano: Giuffrè.
- Horder, J., 2019. Ashworth's Principles of Criminal Law. 9th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lecture 4 - Defences
- Grounds of defences to criminal charges
- Civil subjection
- Coercion
- The notions of justification + excuse at law
- A distinction between the justifiable and excusable homicides or body harm
- A legitimate defence
- Mistakes of law and mistakes of facts
- Necessity (ius necessitates)
- The General Grounds of defences from criminal liability
- Insanity
- Intoxication
- Deaf
- Infancy
Core Reading List
- The Criminal Code, Chapter 9 of the Laws of Malta.
- The Interpretation Act, Chapter 249 of the Laws of Malta
- Mamo, A.J., Notes on Criminal Law, Malta
- Smith, J. and Hogan, B., 2011. Criminal law. London: Butterworths LexisNexis.
Supplementary Reading List
- Antolisei, F. and Grosso, C., 2016. Manuale di diritto penale. Milano: Giuffrè.
- Horder, J., 2019. Ashworth's Principles of Criminal Law. 9th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lecture 5 - Categories of Criminal Offences
- Criminal Attempts
-
- The definition of an attempted offence
- the distinction between preparatory acts, acts of commencement of execution and ultimate consummation of the offence
- the notion of voluntary desistance and accidental non-consummation of the offence
- the punishment for an attempted offence
- application of the notion of attempt to various classes of offences.
-
- Complicity
-
- Definition
- The element of "common design" required between principal and accomplice
- The acts of complicity (moral and physical participation)
- The relationship between the notion of complicity and the notion of attempt
- The real and personal circumstances
- The punishment of principals and accomplices
-
Core Reading List
- The Criminal Code, Chapter 9 of the Laws of Malta.
- The Interpretation Act, Chapter 249 of the Laws of Malta
- Mamo, A.J., Notes on Criminal Law, Malta
- Smith, J. and Hogan, B., 2011. Criminal law. London: Butterworths LexisNexis.
Supplementary Reading List
- Antolisei, F. and Grosso, C., 2016. Manuale di diritto penale. Milano: Giuffrè.
- Horder, J., 2019. Ashworth's Principles of Criminal Law. 9th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lecture 6 - Punishments
- Forms of punishment
- Probation order
- Suspended sentence
- Community work
- Conditional discharge
- Fines – multa & am
Core Reading List
- The Criminal Code, Chapter 9 of the Laws of Malta.
- The Interpretation Act, Chapter 249 of the Laws of Malta
- Mamo, A.J., Notes on Criminal Law, Malta
- Smith, J. and Hogan, B., 2011. Criminal law. London: Butterworths LexisNexis.
Supplementary Reading List
- Antolisei, F. and Grosso, C., 2016. Manuale di diritto penale. Milano: Giuffrè.
- Horder, J., 2019. Ashworth's Principles of Criminal Law. 9th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lecture 7 - The Criminal Code
- Forms of punishment
- Probation order
- Suspended sentence
- Community work
- Conditional discharge
- Fines – multa & am
Core Reading List
- The Criminal Code, Chapter 9 of the Laws of Malta.
- The Interpretation Act, Chapter 249 of the Laws of Malta
- Mamo, A.J., Notes on Criminal Law, Malta
- Smith, J. and Hogan, B., 2011. Criminal law. London: Butterworths LexisNexis.
Supplementary Reading List
- Antolisei, F. and Grosso, C., 2016. Manuale di diritto penale. Milano: Giuffrè.
- Horder, J., 2019. Ashworth's Principles of Criminal Law. 9th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Methods of Assessment
2 Assignments 100% of final score
Assignment
You have to choose 2 out of the 4 questions which are available in the Assignment Submission form below. Assignments should be submitted by not later than Thursday 26 January 2023. The assignments have to be submitted separately but to each there must be attached the Assignment Submission Form. Please indicate the questions which you have addressed in the Assignment Submission form.
If you need information on how to plan, draft and submit your assignment follow the 21 Academy presentation on Writing and Submitting your Assignment.
We are also making the 21 Academy's Assignments Rubric available for your guidance. This is a performance-based assessment tool. Tutors will use the rubric to assist them to allocate scoring while it allows students to understand what is required in the assignment and how it will be graded. For referencing purposes, as much as possible please use the Oscola Referencing Guide.
Submitting Assignment - Turnitin
The Academy will notify you that assignment questions are available through an email. Through another email sent to you by turnitin (probably on the same day) you will be notified that you have been added to a "class" where you may upload your assignment/s. Assignments should be submitted by not later than 23:59hrs of the assignment submission deadline shown on the Assignment Submission form and/or the "class".
At 21 Academy you can submit more than one draft of your assignment before the submission final deadline. The last version left uploaded at the submission deadline will be considered to be your final submission paper and will be the one which will be assessed. Make sure that your final submission does not go beyond 20% similarity when including direct quotations (the sentences in-between quotes).
Follow this very short video to understand how to submit your assignment through turnitin - submitting a paper
To understand the similarity report generated by turnitin follow this 1 minute video - understanding the similarity report
Referencing Style
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