Deck 2: Defining Crime

Question 1

What does the term 'common law' refer to?

Answer 1

Responses could include:
-Draws from a large and diverse collection of statues and previous case decisions

Question 2

Which of the following is the correct hierarchical order of offences (in order from top to bottom)?

A)Private wrongs, regulatory offences, criminal offences
B)Private wrongs, criminal offences, regulatory offences
C)Criminal offences, regulatory offences, private wrongs
D)Criminal offences, private wrongs, regulatory offences

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Briefly discuss the complexities of legal definitions of crime.

Answer 3

Reponses might include:
-A legal definition of crime: acts or omissions that cause public harm are forbidden by law, and are punishable by law
-Not all state-imposed punishments relate to crime; some impose civil or regulatory penalties
-They tell us when acts become criminal but not why

Question 4

What are crimes against humanity? Provide two examples of these types of crimes explaining why the fit within this category of crime.

Question 5

Define regulatory offences and provide an example to support the definition.

Question 6

Outline what could cause a change in which behaviours should be criminalised, giving examples for each of the main trends.

Question 7

Definitions of crime have common elements.Which of the following is not an element of crime definitions? Acts or omissions that:

A)Are unacceptable to the majority of society
B)That result in harm to the public
C)That are considered forbidden by law
D)That are punishable by law

Question 8

Discuss the relationship between harm and enforcement, in relation to information about the estimated harms post 9/11 (2002-03 to 2012-13) in Australia.

Question 9

Having read the section of Chapter, what is crime? Discuss how your perceptions of crime have or have not changed.

Question 10

Discuss some of the limitations of dictionary definitions of crime.