Criminal Law

  1. Principles of Criminal Law
    1. Origins and Purpose of Criminal Law
    2. Distinction between Crime and Tort
    3. Classification of Crime
    4. Elements of a Crime - actus reus and mens rea
    5. Crimes of Strict Liability
    6. Degrees of participation and association (aiders, abettors, counsellors of crime, incitement to commit crime, conspiracy and attempts to commit)
    7. Right to Silence, Presumption of Innocence
  2. Criminal Procedure
    1. The Courts of Criminal Jurisdiction
      1. Scope
      2. Composition
      3. Procedure (in summary and indictable cases)
      4. Jurisdiction
    2. Bail
    3. Arrest and detention without trial
  3. Substantive Law
    1. Offences against the person
      1. Murder
      2. Manslaughter (including vehicular manslaughter)
      3. Infanticide
      4. Assault
      5. Rape, aggravated sexual assault and other sexual offences
      6. Abduction
      7. False Imprisonment
    2. Offences against property
      1. Theft
      2. Robbery
      3. Making Gain or Causing Loss by Deception
      4. Obtaining Services by Deception
      5. Making Off without Payment
      6. Unlawful Use of a Computer
      7. False Accounting
      8. Burglary
      9. Aggravated Burglary
      10. Handling Stolen Property/Possession of Stolen Property
      11. Forgery/Offences Relating to False Instruments
      12. Arson
      13. Criminal Damage
    3. Offences against the Administration of Justice
      1. Perjury
      2. Contempt of Court
    4. Offences of a Public Nature (outline knowledge only required)
      1. Offences against the State
      2. Offences against Public Order
  4. Defences
    1. General
      1. Insanity
      2. Intoxication
      3. Self-Defence
      4. Infancy
      5. Mistake
      6. Duress
      7. Consent
      8. Automatism
      9. Necessity
      10. Unconstitutionality
    2. Defences Specific to Murder
      1. Provocation
      2. Excessive Self Defence
      3. Diminished Responsibility

Candidates will be expected to have a knowledge of all current statutes and Irish case law. They will also be expected to be familiar with Law Reform Commission recommendations or other pertinent developments in these areas and with non Irish persuasive precedents.

RECOMMENDED READING
McAuley and McCutcheon, Criminal Liability, 2nd Edition, (2022), Round Hall Sweet & Maxwell.
Charleton, McDermott, Herlihy and Byrne, Criminal Law and Evidence, 2nd Edition, (2020), Bloomsbury Professional
Campbell, Cusack, Kilcommins and O’Sullivan, Criminal Law in Ireland: Cases and Commentary 2nd Edition, (2021) Clarus Press.
Hanly, An Introduction to Irish Criminal Law, 3rd Edition, (2014), Gill and Macmillan.
McIntrye, McMullan and O’Toghda, Criminal Law, (2012) Thomson Roundhall.

For the general principles of criminal responsibility, candidates are also recommended to read Smith, Hogan and Ormerod, Criminal Law, 16th Edition, (2021); Smith, Hogan and Ormerod Criminal Law: Cases and Materials (13th Edition) (2020) (Oxford University Press), Horder, Ashworth’s Principles of Criminal Law (10th Edition), (2022) (OUP). All of these, however, are English texts and candidates must be ever vigilant in checking whether rules and principles stated in them are also true in Irish law.

Candidates will also find certain reports and consultation papers of the Law Reform Commission very useful for gaining an understanding of the law in those areas. The Criminal Law Review (an English Journal) which has been published since 1954 and the Irish Criminal Law Journal (published since 1991) are valuable for their articles on criminal law and even more so for its case-notes on all the leading developments in English and Irish law.

SUPPLEMENTAL READING
Candidates should consult Byrne and Binchy, Annual Review of Irish Law, (published since 1987) for recent updates on the criminal law. For areas of the law that relate to criminal procedure, relevant works include Walsh, Criminal Procedure (2016) (2nd Edition), Fennell, The Law of Evidence in Ireland (4th Edition) (2020), O’Malley, The Criminal Process (2009), Walsh, Human Rights and Policing in Ireland (2008), McGrath and Egan McGrath, McGrath on Evidence, (3rd Edition) (2020), and Law Society of Ireland (Butler) Criminal Litigation, 3rd Edition (2017).

Other specialist texts that can be referred to include O’Moore, Non Fatal Offences Against the Person: law and practice (2018), Coen, Garda Powers: Law and Practice (2014), Hamilton, The Presumption of Innocence and Irish Criminal Law (2007); L Heffernan and U Ni Raifteraigh, Evidence in Criminal Trials (2nd Edition) (2020); Leahy and Fitzgerald O’Reilly, Sexual Offences in Ireland (2018); O’Malley, Sexual Offences (2013) OClarke, M Kenny, M O’Sullivan, Woods on Road Traffic Offences, 2018, (4th Edition); de Blacam, Drunken Driving and the Law (3rd Edition), and McGreal, Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001 (2011), Bracken, CriminalDefinitions (2010), Whelan, Mental Health Law and Practice: Civil and Criminal Aspects (2009), Horan, Corporate Crime (2011), McGrath, Corporate and White Collar Crime: a new architecture of regulatory enforcement (Manchester University Press 2015) and Connery and Hodnett, Regulatory Crime in Ireland (2009).