criminal law crw2601 assignment 1 semester 2 2102
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Criminal law assignmentTRANSCRIPT
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NAME OSCAR SIMUKAI JEMWA
STUDENT NUMBER 4927-397-3
MODULE CRIMINAL LAW CRW2601
REGISTRATION PERIOD CODE ASSIGNMENT 1 SECOND SEMESTER 2013
UNIQUE NUMBER 353495
DUE DATE 6 SEPTEMBER 2013
DEGREE PROGRAMME 03492 BACHELOR OF LAWS
EXAM CENTER HARARE EXHIBITION PARK
POSTAL ADRESS 12466 UNIT N SEKE CHITUNGWIZA
ZIMBABWE
UNISA
CRIMINAL LAW CRW2601
ASSIGNMENT 01 SECOND SEMESTER 2013
6/9/2013
ASSIGNMENT 01 SECOND SEMESTER 2013 SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULLFILLMENT TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE UNISA BACHELOR OF LAWS PROGRAMME
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OSCAR SIMUKAI JEMWA 4927-397-3 CRIMINAL LAW CRW2601 ASSIGNMENT 1 SEMESTER 2 2013 UNIQUE NUMBER 353495 03492 BACHELOR OF LAWS EXAM CENTER HARARE EXHIBITION PARK
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Question (i)
The definitional elements of murder read, the intentional killing of another human
being. Human being, is used in this context to mean a legal subject. A person
assumes their legal status at birth. The conceived but unborn child is thus not a legal
subject and cannot have rights, duties and capacities.
The principle of legality means that there is no crime without a law. A comprehensive
definition of the principle of legality can be laid out as follows:
An accused may not be found guilty of crime and sentenced unless the type of conduct
which he is charged:
(a) Has been recognized by the law as a crime,
(b) In clear terms,
(c) Before the conduct took place,
(d) Without the court having to stretch the meaning of the words and concepts in
the definition to bring the particular conduct of the accused within the compass
of the definition...
Since the foetus is not a person there is no conduct amounting to murder and X cannot
be held liable for such.
Question (ii)
Conditio sine qua non (factual causation) defines an indispensible condition or simply
put if the act cannot be thought away without the situation disappearing at the same
time. Factual causation is without limits.
An act is a legal cause of a situation if, according to human experience, in the normal
course of events, the act has a tendency to bring about that kind of a situation. Legal
causation is applied to achieve the delimitation of factual causation. The authoritative
case here is S V Tembani 2007 (1) SACR 365 (SCA). In this case it was held that, the
deliberate infliction of a dangerous wound from which the victim is likely to die without
medical intervention must generally lead to liability for an ensuing death
The bombing would not qualify as a novus actus since X previously foresaw that
shooting Y in the stomach would result in Ys death. Xs shooting is thus the legal cause
of Ys death.