|
| |
| |
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48 | Defence of acting reasonably |
| |
(1) | A person is not guilty of an offence under this Part if he proves— |
| |
(a) | that he knew certain circumstances existed; and |
| |
(b) | that it was reasonable for him to act as he did in those circumstances. |
| 5 |
(2) | A person is not guilty of an offence under this Part if he proves— |
| |
(a) | that he believed certain circumstances to exist; |
| |
(b) | that his belief was reasonable; and |
| |
(c) | that it was reasonable for him to act as he did in the circumstances as he |
| |
| 10 |
(3) | Factors to be considered in determining whether it was reasonable for a person |
| |
to act as he did include— |
| |
(a) | the seriousness of the anticipated offence (or, in the case of an offence |
| |
under section 44, the offences specified in the indictment); |
| |
(b) | any purpose for which he claims to have been acting; |
| 15 |
(c) | any authority by which he claims to have been acting. |
| |
| |
49 | Protective offences: victims not liable |
| |
(1) | In the case of protective offences, a person does not commit an offence under |
| |
this Part by reference to such an offence if— |
| 20 |
(a) | he falls within the protected category; and |
| |
(b) | he is the person in respect of whom the protective offence was |
| |
committed or would have been if it had been committed. |
| |
(2) | “Protective offence” means an offence that exists (wholly or in part) for the |
| |
protection of a particular category of persons (“the protected category”). |
| 25 |
Jurisdiction and procedure |
| |
| |
(1) | If a person (D) knows or believes that what he anticipates might take place |
| |
wholly or partly in England or Wales, he may be guilty of an offence under |
| |
section 42, 43 or 44 no matter where he was at any relevant time. |
| 30 |
(2) | If it is not proved that D knows or believes that what he anticipates might take |
| |
place wholly or partly in England or Wales, he is not guilty of an offence under |
| |
section 42, 43 or 44 unless paragraph 1, 2 or 3 of Schedule 4 applies. |
| |
(3) | A reference in this section (and in any of those paragraphs) to what D |
| |
anticipates is to be read as follows— |
| 35 |
(a) | in relation to an offence under section 42 or 43, it refers to the act which |
| |
would amount to the commission of the anticipated offence; |
| |
(b) | in relation to an offence under section 44, it refers to an act which would |
| |
amount to the commission of any of the offences specified in the |
| |
| 40 |
| |
| |
|
| |
| |
(4) | In their application to Northern Ireland, this section and Schedule 4 have effect |
| |
| |
(a) | England or Wales; and |
| |
| |
| were references to Northern Ireland. |
| 5 |
51 | Prosecution of offences triable by reason of Schedule 4 |
| |
No proceedings for an offence triable by reason of any provision of Schedule 4 |
| |
| |
(a) | in England and Wales, except by, or with the consent of, the Attorney |
| |
| 10 |
(b) | in Northern Ireland, except by, or with the consent of, the Advocate |
| |
General for Northern Ireland. |
| |
52 | Institution of proceedings etc. for an offence under this Part |
| |
(1) | Any provision to which this section applies has effect with respect to an offence |
| |
under this Part as it has effect with respect to the anticipated offence. |
| 15 |
(2) | This section applies to provisions made by or under an enactment (whenever |
| |
| |
(a) | provide that proceedings may not be instituted or carried on otherwise |
| |
than by, or on behalf or with the consent of, any person (including any |
| |
provision which also makes exceptions to the prohibition); |
| 20 |
(b) | confer power to institute proceedings; |
| |
(c) | confer power to seize and detain property; |
| |
(d) | confer a power of forfeiture, including any power to deal with anything |
| |
| |
(3) | In relation to an offence under section 44— |
| 25 |
(a) | the reference in subsection (1) to the anticipated offence is to be read as |
| |
a reference to any offence specified in the indictment; and |
| |
(b) | each of the offences specified in the indictment must be an offence in |
| |
respect of which the prosecutor has power to institute proceedings. |
| |
(4) | Any consent to proceedings required as a result of this section is in addition to |
| 30 |
any consent required by section 51. |
| |
| |
(1) | An offence under section 42 or 43 is triable in the same way as the anticipated |
| |
| |
(2) | An offence under section 44 is triable on indictment. |
| 35 |
54 | Persons who may be perpetrators or encouragers etc. |
| |
(1) | In proceedings for an offence under this Part (“the inchoate offence”) the |
| |
defendant may be convicted if— |
| |
(a) | it is proved that he must have committed the inchoate offence or the |
| |
| 40 |
(b) | it is not proved which of those offences he committed. |
| |
| |
| |
|
| |
| |
(2) | For the purposes of this section, a person is not to be treated as having |
| |
committed the anticipated offence merely because he aided, abetted, |
| |
counselled or procured its commission. |
| |
(3) | In relation to an offence under section 44, a reference in this section to the |
| |
anticipated offence is to be read as a reference to an offence specified in the |
| 5 |
| |
55 | Alternative verdicts and guilty pleas |
| |
(1) | If in proceedings on indictment for an offence under section 42 or 43 a person |
| |
is not found guilty of that offence by reference to the specified offence, he may |
| |
be found guilty of that offence by reference to an alternative offence. |
| 10 |
(2) | If in proceedings for an offence under section 44 a person is not found guilty of |
| |
that offence by reference to any specified offence, he may be found guilty of |
| |
that offence by reference to one or more alternative offences. |
| |
(3) | If in proceedings for an offence under section 44 a person is found guilty of the |
| |
offence by reference to one or more specified offences, he may also be found |
| 15 |
guilty of it by reference to one or more other alternative offences. |
| |
(4) | For the purposes of this section, an offence is an alternative offence if— |
| |
(a) | it is an offence of which, on a trial on indictment for the specified |
| |
offence, an accused may be found guilty; or |
| |
(b) | it is an indictable offence, or one to which section 40 of the Criminal |
| 20 |
Justice Act 1988 (c. 33) applies (power to include count for common |
| |
assault etc. in indictment), and the condition in subsection (5) is |
| |
| |
(5) | The condition is that the allegations in the indictment charging the person with |
| |
the offence under this Part amount to or include (expressly or by implication) |
| 25 |
an allegation of that offence by reference to it. |
| |
(6) | Subsection (4)(b) does not apply if the specified offence, or any of the specified |
| |
offences, is murder or treason. |
| |
(7) | In the application of subsection (5) to proceedings for an offence under section |
| |
42, the allegations in the indictment are to be taken to include an allegation of |
| 30 |
that offence by reference to the offence of attempting to commit the specified |
| |
| |
(8) | Section 47(4) applies to an offence which is an alternative offence in relation to |
| |
a specified offence as it applies to that specified offence. |
| |
| 35 |
(a) | in relation to a person charged with an offence under section 42 or 43, |
| |
“the specified offence” means the offence specified in the indictment as |
| |
the one alleged to be the anticipated offence; |
| |
(b) | in relation to a person charged with an offence under section 44, |
| |
“specified offence” means an offence specified in the indictment |
| 40 |
(within the meaning of subsection (4) of that section), and related |
| |
expressions are to be read accordingly. |
| |
(10) | A person arraigned on an indictment for an offence under this Part may plead |
| |
guilty to an offence of which he could be found guilty under this section on that |
| |
| 45 |
| |
| |
|
| |
| |
(11) | This section applies to an indictment containing more than one count as if each |
| |
count were a separate indictment. |
| |
(12) | This section is without prejudice to— |
| |
(a) | section 6(1)(b) and (3) of the Criminal Law Act 1967 (c. 58); |
| |
(b) | section 6(1)(b) and (2) of the Criminal Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1967 |
| 5 |
| |
| |
(1) | Subsections (2) and (3) apply if— |
| |
(a) | a person is convicted of an offence under section 42 or 43; or |
| |
(b) | a person is convicted of an offence under section 44 by reference to only |
| 10 |
one offence (“the reference offence”). |
| |
(2) | If the anticipated or reference offence is murder, he is liable to imprisonment |
| |
| |
(3) | In any other case he is liable to any penalty for which he would be liable on |
| |
conviction of the anticipated or reference offence. |
| 15 |
(4) | Subsections (5) to (7) apply if a person is convicted of an offence under section |
| |
44 by reference to more than one offence (“the reference offences”). |
| |
(5) | If one of the reference offences is murder, he is liable to imprisonment for life. |
| |
(6) | If none of the reference offences is murder but one or more of them is |
| |
punishable with imprisonment, he is liable— |
| 20 |
(a) | to imprisonment for a term not exceeding the maximum term provided |
| |
for any one of those offences (taking the longer or the longest term as |
| |
the limit for the purposes of this paragraph where the terms provided |
| |
| |
| 25 |
(7) | In any other case he is liable to a fine. |
| |
(8) | Subsections (3), (6) and (7) are subject to any contrary provision made by or |
| |
| |
| |
(b) | Northern Ireland legislation. |
| 30 |
(9) | In the case of an offence triable either way, the reference in subsection (6) to the |
| |
maximum term provided for that offence is a reference to the maximum term |
| |
so provided on conviction on indictment. |
| |
Consequential alterations of the law |
| |
57 | Abolition of common law replaced by this Part |
| 35 |
The common law offence of inciting the commission of another offence is |
| |
| |
58 | Amendments relating to service law |
| |
Schedule 5 (which amends enactments relating to service law) has effect. |
| |
| |
| |
|
