THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES

FACULTY OF LAW
ST AUGUSTINE CAMPUS

CRIMINAL LAW 1
LAW 1110

COURSE DIRECTOR
Dr. Arif Bulkan

Please note that Justice Gillian Lucky J.A. will be the lecturer for Criminal Law 1,
Semester 1 2022/2023. All the worksheets for this course as prepared by Dr. Bulkan
remain unchanged. This Course Outline which was also prepared by Dr. Bulkan is
relevant to the course and should be read in its full detail.
 About the Course

Criminal Law I & II provide students with an introduction to and overview of the substantive
law of crime. It is offered over the course of the academic year, part I in the first semester and
part II in the second. Together they comprise a mandatory, core component of the LLB
degree and must be completed successfully in order to graduate.

Criminal Law I introduces students to core concepts and principles of criminal liability. The
course begins with a brief foray into the nature and purpose of the criminal law, and tackles
issues such as the nature of crime and society’s justification for penalizing certain acts and
not others. Since criminal law is an aspect of a state’s enormous coercive powers, issues of
policy are not the preoccupation only of academics but continually confront policy-makers
and judges in deciding the extent of liability and punishment in any given case. As such, the
themes of why criminalize and to what degree are ones that underpin many judicial decisions,
and from the outset students should pay attention to these debates for a fuller understanding
of the nuances of various topics.

That said, the rest of the course is occupied with black letter issues of criminal liability in
general, covering topics such as the elements of a crime, exceptions thereto, modes of
participation in (and therefore culpability for) criminal activity, general defences to liability
and inchoate crimes. Criminal Law II in the second semester covers detailed treatment of
specific offences.

COURSE CONTENT

1. Nature and Purpose of Criminal Law

2. Elements of a Crime
a. Actus Reus
b. Mens Rea

3. Causation

4. Strict Liability

5. Participation in Crime
 6. General Defences (including a variety of defences, general to multiple offences)

7. Inchoate Crimes

a. Incitement
b. Conspiracy
c. Attempt

NOTE FROM JUSTICE GILLIAN LUCKY, J.A.

The worksheets prepared by Dr. Bulkan are comprehensive and provide a systematic approach
to cover the content of this course. Students should therefore use these worksheets as a guide
for further and deeper research into the topics contained in the worksheets. My expectation is
that each student will actively participate in lectures and tutorials. This high level of
engagement will only be possible when you are properly prepared. Knowing the law is one
thing, but applying the principles is the art which you must master. As your lecturer, I will
guide and direct you as to the skills you must acquire in the study of law, and more specifically,
to be successful in this course.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of this course students should be able to:

1. Explain the basic principles of criminal law, including the justifications for
criminalising certain types of conduct;

2. Articulate the basis of criminal liability, including the constitutive elements of

conduct and mental state;

3. Articulate the exceptions to the general rule, where culpability may exist without
blameworthiness;

4. Explain the various modes of criminal participation, including the rationale for
differentiating between individual liability in a joint enterprise;

5. Apply the principles governing liability to determine the existence of culpability in

specific scenarios;

6. Explain the elements and scope of general defences to crime, and applying them to
hypothetical situations to determine criminal liability;
 7. Explain the concept of inchoate liability and discuss the rationale for and limits to
criminalising incomplete activity;

8. Conduct comparative analyses of the approaches to criminal liability found among

Caribbean countries.

2.

CLASS & STUDY FORMAT

The course will be taught through a combination of lectures and tutorials each week. The
lectures will be interactive so that students must complete at least ONE of the assigned
readings in advance (you will be told which one). The purpose of tutorials is to develop
students’ ability to apply the knowledge gained from the combination of lectures and
individual research. Basically, this will require students to solve legal problems. It is
primarily through tutorials that learning will be measured and students will be prepared for
examinations.

Lectures will be held on Tuesdays from 3 pm to 5 p.m. Tutorial options will be provided in
due course.

The following individuals are the tutors for this course -

Hasine Shaikh, Chief Public Defender

Anita Mangra, (LLB), (LEC), (LLM)

Shacaré Gordon, (LLB), (LEC), (LLM)

In addition to the specified contact hours, students are expected to do their own independent
study each week – at least 3 hours of study for each contact hour. This includes preparation
for class and answering problem questions.

You will be expected to attend classes, to have read the required material in advance, and to
be ready to discuss that material. Please note that both University policy and a GATE
requirement is that attendance be maintained at no less than 75% of lectures and tutorials in
each course over the semester. This will be explained in further detail during the first class.

COURSE MATERIALS

Required Texts
Card, Cross & Jones, Criminal Law (OUP, latest edition) OR

Smith JC & Hogan B, Criminal Law (OUP, latest edition)

Omerod, Smith & Hogan Criminal Law: Cases and Materials (OUP, latest edition)
Additional Sources
This is a case-intensive course. This means textbooks are to be treated only as a starting
point; you will be referred to essential cases for each topic, which must be read for a proper
comprehension of the topic in question. In addition, you may be referred to journal articles
and statutes from time to time.

USE OF MYELEARNING

You will find on the myelearning site all of the worksheets and most of the other material
required for the course. You will obtain access to the electronic copies of worksheets and
readings (or links thereto) in advance of each lecture.

Worksheets must be read in advance of the corresponding lecture. Most will direct you to a
specific case which must be read in advance of class (or some other exercise to be done), with
questions provided to guide your reading and aid comprehension. These cases are carefully
chosen on the basis that the discussion they contain can aid your overall understanding of the
key principles in the topic.

ASSESSMENT

The course will be assessed by way of both course work and a written final examination at
the end of the first semester. The course work component accounts for 40% of the final grade
and comprises,
 Tutorial attendance: 10%
 Online exercise: 10%
 Multiple choice questions: 20%

More detailed guidelines and instructions regarding the various course work assessments will
be given at the start of the semester.

The final examination accounts for 60% of the final grade. Students will be required to
answer two out of a choice of four questions.

University Grading Scheme (Level I)

Grade Percent Grade Percent Grade Percent Grade Percent
A+ 90 – 100 B+ 70 – 74 C+ 55 – 59 F1 40 – 49
A 80 – 89 B 65 – 69 C 50 – 54 F2 30 – 39
A- 75 – 79 B- 60 – 64 F3 0 – 29
 University Policies and Expectations

Academic Integrity
The UWI is committed to five fundamental values: honesty, trust, fairness, respect and
responsibility (The UWI Turnitin Policy). Similarly, students are required to practice
these values and are therefore required to be cognizant of and adhere to the UWI
policies regarding academic integrity and plagiarism as outlined in its regulations found
at https://sta.uwi.edu/resources/policies/Anti-Plagiarism.pdf and in the Faculty
Regulations and Syllabuses.

Attendance and Examination Policy

All registered students are required to attend prescribed lectures, practical classes,
tutorials, or clinical instructions. Students with unsatisfactory class attendance or who
have failed to submit any assessments set by his/her Examiner are subject to debarment
by the relevant Academic Board, on the recommendation of the relevant Faculty Board,
from taking any University examination. Procedures to be used to measure attendance
and assessments shall be prescribed by the Faculty (The UWI Assessment Regulations
for First Degrees, Associate Degrees, Undergraduate Diplomas and Certificates:
Including GPA and Plagiarism Regulations 2017-2018, p. 3).

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

Students should refer to the University of the West Indies St Augustine Campus,
Student Disability Policy. https://sta.uwi.edu/resources/policies/Student_Disability.pdf.