Posts Tagged ‘criminal law’

About this book The novel is, at its core, a deep exploration of the moral considerations that drive crime and whether there is some point or level at which crime cannot be considered to be moral in the circumstances. The novel addresses these questions by engaging with an overarching story of true crime, supplemented by […]

Comments Off on Pistorius: A brief reminder

Oscar Pistorius has recently been released on parole. It may be helpful to be reminded of how this can be. Pistorius was convicted of murder — the murder of whoever was in the toilet of his on-suite bathroom. He was given the minimum sentence applicable: 15 years, less time served, and he recently qualified for […]

Comments Off on The Incompatibility of a Claim to Self-Defence against a Charge of Genocide.

What is the relationship between genocide and self-defence? How can it be that everyone seems to agree, that there can be no defence to genocide? How can one understand Israel’s claim that they are not committing genocide but instead they are acting in self-defence? Why is it that Israel argues that its conduct is in […]

Many spectacular and sensational claims have been levelled at Oscar Pistorius in the media: that he has a bad temper, threated to break someone’s legs, is obsessed with firearms, fired a gun out of his sunroof, and another in a restaurant, was in illegal possession of ammunition and browsed pornographic websites on the night that […]

In order to understand the defence of Oscar Pistorius to the charge of murder against him, it is necessary to have reference to the general requirements of criminal liability (see the overview on this site). In particular, one must have reference to the requirement that the fault requirement of criminal liability must extend or relate […]

Comments Off on Error in Objecto and Aberratio Ictus: Shooting the “wrong” person.

If I shoot a gun at a particular person, but I miss, the law recognises that the bullet may easily come to rest in a wall, a tree, or fall harmlessly to the ground somewhere. It could also, of course, strike another person – and this is where things get interesting. This is known in […]