Criminal Law Case Study

This essay analyzes a criminal law case study involving drug use, negligence, and breach of contract. It examines the relevant laws, their strengths and weaknesses, and the potential outcomes for the individuals involved.

CRIMINAL LAW

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Case Study...................................................................................................................................1
Law that are related in this case..................................................................................................1
Result that can be declared in this case.......................................................................................3
Consider the strengths and weaknesses in the application of the law to the facts......................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
.........................................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Criminal law is defined as the body law which deals with the activities of crime. It is one
of the the major law to restrict the criminal activities which are taking place in the country on
regular basis (Definition of Criminal Law, 20181). It is the responsibility of public of every
nation that they follow the guidelines of criminal law to avoid themselves from any non bailable
offence. In UK, the responsibility to form any new law under Criminal Act is in the hands of
Parliament as they have the supreme power to enforce any law with in the boundary of UK. In
this project the report will be based on given case study which is related with criminal offence.
This file have detail discussion on legal issues which are arising from the given case. Also there
will be appropriate laws which are related with the similar scenario.
MAIN BODY
Case Study
The given case is related with the John, Len and Harry who are celebrating the 30th
birthday of Len. John and Len are the drug addicted person and they gifted some heroin to Harry
as a part of birthday treat. And after taking heroin from the mode of syringe the health level of
Harry start to decrease and because of that Harry collapsed. This incident made John and Len
scared so they decided to run form the place of party immediately. Many people saw the
condition of Harry but doe to there personal problem they were not able to take him to the
hospital but at the end third person saw him and called the ambulance. In hospital it was was
found that Harry was dead and in post mortem report it was declared that the main reason was
pre vaccination which was given to him.
In this case the forth person was Edward who have the responsibility to close the barriers
when tram arrives but as he was busy in watching the live football on TV he forgets to perform
his task on time. This mistake was the main reason for accident of bus and the result was found
that the drive of tram was killed outright.
Law that are related in this case
This case is related with two different laws under Criminal Act, 1967 and they are listed
below with it's detail information:
1 Definition of Criminal Law. 2018 <https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-criminal-
law-definition-purpose-types-cases.html>
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Misuse of Drugs Act, 1971: This law was introduced to prevent public from using
unnecessary medicines as a drugs2. To stop the activities of drugs in UK the government have
provided the power to police. This act have been divided into three different stages such as Class
A which includes cocaine and crack, LSD, methadone ecstasy, heroin etc. Class B includes the
use of barbiturates, codeine, etc. which are legal to produce at the current scenario but only by
the authorised doctors. And Class C includes minor tranquillisers, GBL and GHB etc. among this
categories Class A is treated as most dangerous and it falls under the misuse of Drugs Act. The
offence which are committed under 1971 act have the maximum pantiles of:
 Imprisonment of 7 years with fine of unlimited amount to the person who is found guilty
and the authority to declare this punishment is in the hand of crown under the Royal
Ascent Act, 1961.
 Imprisonment of 6 months with fine of £5,000 on criminal by the judgement of
magistrates
Government have been working very hard under this law so that improvement can be
brought to improve the living standard of people by reducing the use of drugs in daily life. This
act have been very much successful when results are compared with previous data.
In this case, it can be seen that Harry John and Len used the heroin which falls under the first
categories of Class A which is criminal offence in UK law.
Criminal Negligence: It is one of the major issue of almost every country where must of
the crime took place because of negligence3. This problem have been increased in recent period
of time must be control in future. To find accurate problem of the particular case, Criminal law
have divided negligence in five different part and they are:
 Duty: In first process it is check whether the authorised person was capable or not for the
duty. The detail information is collected through different source
 Breach of Duty: The second process determine what are the duty which is not followed
by the authorised person on time. Every person should make sure that they do not breach
the responsibilities which are provided to them.
2 Krever, Tor. "International criminal law: (An ideology critique." Leiden Journal of
International Law 26.3 2013) 701-723.
3 Del Carmen, Rolando V. Criminal procedure: Law and practice.(Cengage Learning,
2013)
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 Cause in Fact: Here, the lawyer need to prove that the main reason behind the injury of
his plaintiff was because of negligence of defendant. Here it is seen that what had
happened if there was no breach of duty.
 Proximate cause: In this the role of judges increases who must do the detail examination
of a case and must find out that what was the actual responsibility and what are the main
reasons behind that negligence4. In this process the supportive role is being played by
attorney of the case.
 Damages: This is the last stage where damages are being seen in the respective case and
where defendant fail to prove that they should not be declared as defaulter.
The case of Edward is related with criminal negligence and breach of contract. The detail
information about breach of contract is explained below:
Breach of Contract: It is defined as the state where person fails to perform or complete
its assigned duty on time5. It is the responsibility of both both the party to complete there task on
given time. If any person is found guilty under the breach of contract then damages can be
claimed by the opponent party. This types of wrong are mainly said as civil wrong but in this
case this was treated as criminal wrong.
Result that can be declared in this case.
This case of John, Harry and Len is related with the issue of Misuse of Drugs Act. They
need to face serious nature result as there case is of related with just using drugs but because of
there fault harry have to loss his life which was one of the major issue in this case. Although they
didn't killed Harry but because of there fault he died in this incident. The results that can be
declared by the judges or crowned person are
 imprisonment from 6 moths to 7 years
 fine can be imposed which is not less that £5,000
 or both can be applied.
The second defaulter in this case was Edward because he was the main reason behind the death
of tram driver. Here defaulter have to face trouble form two different law and they are breach of
contract and criminal negligence. Under this law Edward need pay out the legal damages which
4 Sherwin, Richard K. "Law frames: Historical truth and narrative necessity in a criminal
case." (Trials. Routledge, 2017) 143-187.
5 Bloy, Duncan, and Philip Parry. Principles of Criminal Law ( Routledge-Cavendish,
2013)
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has occurred just because of breach of contract. The remedies will be selected by the judges of
high court as this right has been provided to them where they declare according to the situation
which arises in front of them. The second the was negligence and in this case this Edward is
liable to spend his life in prison for at least 2 years which can be expanded upto 5 years. Even
penalties can be imposed in the form of monitory term also or both can be applied.
Consider the strengths and weaknesses in the application of the law to the facts.
There are many acts that need to be amended according to the current situation of a
market because of the modern techniques which are being used to attempt crime. Every law have
its own nature where strength and weaknesses are also located in it. Some of the strength and
weaknesses of those laws which are related with case.
Misuse of Drugs Act 1971: In last many year this act reduce the number of drug addict
in the premisses of UK. Still lots of work need to be done by authorised person of this
department6. It is found that this law have performed very well which can be seen through its
result but still lots of work ned to be in this law too. Some of the strength and weaknesses of
Misuse of Drugs Act are listed below:
Strength
 This law wants to remove the youths who are engaged in the activities of drugs.
 It is working to prevent the life of every general public who are involved in drungs
Weaknesses
 The major weaknesses related with its enforcement which is totally based on historical
assumptions.
 It is said that this act is still not appropriate to declare the correct decision which are
being given in the different level of court rooms.
Criminal Negligence: It is one of those law which is working on the activities which are
being performed by the people of on daily basis7. This law have shown significant changes in
recent period of time. The government of UK can modify this law which will be effective to
bring positive changes in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Some of the strength
and weaknesses of criminal negligence are as follows:
6 Bhattacharyya, Rituparna. "Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013: Will it ensure
women's safety in public spaces?." (Journal Space and Culture, India 1.1 2013): 13-26.
7 Van Sliedregt, Elies. Individual criminal responsibility in international law. (Oxford
University Press, 2012)
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Strength
 At the time of declaring result it mainly focus on the relevant facts which were presented
in the court room8.
 This law has helped every to perform there task with more focus as single mistake can
lead them to start the proceeding of criminal activities.
Weaknesses
 It has a lengthy process at to find out the causes of the fault.
 This law still need lots of amendments, as methods which are being used is not upto the
appropriate mark.
Breach Of Contract: This law was helpful because no one was allowed to breach the
term and condition of a contract. There are different rules and regulations that need to be
followed under this law. The authorised authority can still bring some of amendments in this law
because still there are some area in this law of UK which are on the weaker side while declaring
the result. Some of the strength and weaknesses of breach of contract are listed below:
Strength
 This law helps to complete the terms and condition of contract9.
Weaknesses
 This law was totally based on common law which is not good for any nation for longer
period of time.
8 Mich. J. Gender & L . Houston, Claire. "How feminist theory became law: (Tracing the
path to mandatory criminal intervention in domestic violence cases."2014): 217.
9 Morse, Stephen J. "Criminal law and common sense: (an essay on the perils and
promise of neuroscience. Rev 2015): 39.
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CONCLUSION
From the above file it can be concluded that the main purpose to introduce criminal law
to reduce the number of crime which are bring performed on daily basis. The rules and
regulations which are made to reduce the number of drug user still need to be updated but it have
shown the positive response in the country when it is compared with past results. The
government of UK can conduct different programs through which they can provide complete
knowledge regarding Misuse of Drugs Act 1961 because this lots of people still don't have the
knowledge regarding this topic. Also, it can be said that the main every people should complete
there task because of single mistake can cause a big damage.
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REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Krever, Tor. "International criminal law: (An ideology critique." Leiden Journal of International
Law 26.3 2013) 701-723.
Del Carmen, Rolando V. Criminal procedure: Law and practice.(Cengage Learning, 2013)
Sherwin, Richard K. "Law frames: Historical truth and narrative necessity in a criminal
case." (Trials. Routledge, 2017) 143-187.
Bloy, Duncan, and Philip Parry. Principles of Criminal Law ( Routledge-Cavendish, 2013)
Bhattacharyya, Rituparna. "Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013: Will it ensure women's
safety in public spaces?." (Journal Space and Culture, India 1.1 2013): 13-26.
Van Sliedregt, Elies. Individual criminal responsibility in international law. (Oxford University
Press, 2012)
Mich. J. Gender & L . Houston, Claire. "How feminist theory became law: (Tracing the path to
mandatory criminal intervention in domestic violence cases."2014): 217.
Morse, Stephen J. "Criminal law and common sense: (an essay on the perils and promise of
neuroscience. Rev 2015): 39.
Online
Definition of Criminal Law. 2018 <https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-criminal-law-
definition-purpose-types-cases.html>
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