Criminal Law

Citation

Herring, J. (2024). Criminal Law: Text, Cases, and Materials. Oxford University Press.

Chapter Summary

The book has fifteen chapters over roughly 880 pages. It follows the order of most English criminal law courses: an introduction, the general elements of liability, the main offences grouped by type, and then the general defences and the doctrines that extend liability to other people or to attempts. The title and format show it to be a text, cases and materials book, so each chapter combines the author's exposition with extracts from the primary and secondary materials.

Chapter 1: An Introduction to Criminal Law

The opening chapter, about sixty pages, which sets up the subject before the detailed chapters begin.

Chapters 2–4: Actus Reus: The Conduct Element; Mens Rea: The Mental Element; Strict Liability

The general part on what must be proved. Chapter 2 deals with the conduct element and Chapter 3 with the mental element; at about seventy-five pages, Chapter 3 is the longest of the three. Chapter 4 is a short chapter, about twenty pages, on strict liability, offences where a mental element is not required for part of the offence.

Chapters 5–7: Homicide; Non-Fatal Non-Sexual Offences Against the Person; Sexual Offences

Offences against the person. Homicide takes about ninety pages, non-fatal non-sexual offences over a hundred, and sexual offences the same, so these three chapters make up about a third of the book.

Chapters 8–11: Theft, Handling, and Robbery; Fraud; Burglary and Blackmail; Criminal Damage

Property offences. Theft, handling and robbery are grouped in one chapter, while fraud, burglary and blackmail, and criminal damage each have shorter chapters of roughly seventeen to twenty-six pages.

Chapters 12–13: Defences; The Criminal Liability of Corporations

Chapter 12, about 115 pages, covers the defences. Chapter 13 is a short chapter, around fourteen pages, on the liability of corporations.

Chapters 14–15: Inchoate Offences; Complicity

The book closes with the doctrines that reach beyond completed offences committed by a single person: inchoate offences in Chapter 14 and complicity in Chapter 15.

Key Concepts

General principles (Chapters 1–4)

• Actus reus: the conduct element that must be proved for an offence.
• Mens rea: the mental element of an offence.
• Strict liability: liability where fault is not required for part of the offence.

Offences (Chapters 5–11)

• Homicide: the offences of unlawfully causing death.
• Offences against the person: non-fatal non-sexual offences and sexual offences, treated in separate chapters.
• Property offences: theft, handling, robbery, fraud, burglary, blackmail and criminal damage.

Defences and extended liability (Chapters 12–15)

• Defences: the general defences that excuse or justify otherwise criminal conduct.
• Corporate criminal liability: when a company can be held liable.
• Inchoate offences and complicity: liability for steps towards an offence and for helping or encouraging another person's offence.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Text, cases and materials in one volume. Each chapter combines explanation with source extracts, so students can see the primary material that the rules are drawn from without a separate casebook.
• Standard course shape. The general elements come first, the offences follow by subject, and the book ends with defences and extended liability, which matches the structure of most criminal law syllabuses and makes it easy to map onto lectures.
• Substantial treatment of the most-taught topics. Homicide, non-fatal offences against the person, sexual offences and the defences each have a long chapter, while the shorter property offences are kept compact.
• A separate chapter on corporate liability. Chapter 13 gives the liability of companies its own chapter, for courses that include it.

Limitations

• Size. At roughly 880 pages the book is long for a first read; the text, cases and materials format adds extracts to the exposition, and readers who want a compact summary of the rules may prefer a shorter text.
• Offence-based structure. The book is arranged around offences, which makes it a good reference but means that themes running across offences have no chapter of their own after the introduction; students who want theoretical discussion of criminal law will need another source.
• Law moves. This is a 2024 text; legislation and appeals continue to change the law, so check recent developments for any area being examined.

Where It Fits in the Course

Herring's book is the main teaching text in the criminal law list, in a text, cases and materials format. Norrie's Crime, Reason and History is a critical introduction that questions the history and rationale of the doctrine; it is best read alongside this book, once the rules are familiar. Ashworth's Principles of Criminal Law (edited by Jeremy Horder) is a principles-oriented textbook, and Simester and Sullivan's Criminal Law: Theory and Doctrine is a more detailed treatise that sets the rules beside analysis of the principles that should govern them. Wells and others' Reconstructing Criminal Law is a text-and-materials collection.

For most students the sequence is Herring for the rules and the source material, then Ashworth or Simester and Sullivan for the principles, with Norrie as a critical companion.

How to Use This Book

The book is for students taking a first or second course in English criminal law and wanting one volume that contains both exposition and source extracts.

A practical reading plan:

• Core: Chapters 1–4 on the general principles, then Chapters 5 and 6 on homicide and non-fatal offences against the person, and Chapter 12 on defences. These are the topics assessed in almost every course.
• Add as the syllabus requires: Chapter 7 on sexual offences, Chapters 8–11 on property offences, and Chapters 14–15 on inchoate offences and complicity.
• Optional: Chapter 13 on corporate liability, unless the course covers it.

Read the exposition first and then the extracts of the leading cases, and attempt problem questions by applying the elements from Chapters 2–4 to the offence in question.