LAW5001 Cheatsheet · Principles of Criminal Law and Procedure

01 · Exam map Course + brief

“You’re permitted to use hard-copy notes and materials in the final assessment.” LAW5001 Assessments page

“Exam (open book) 50% - TBA – Invigilated exam 2 hours 30 min” LAW5001 introduction slides, Trimester 3 2026

08 · Conditional conclusion Guide ch 4

02 · Answer engine All chapters

Exam use → One paragraph per disputed proposition. A case name never substitutes for rule + factual comparison.

03 · Liability architecture Guide ch 1

Voluntariness asks whether the attributed conduct was a willed act. A deliberate movement does not automatically prove intention or recklessness about its result.

04 · Non-fatal selection Guide ch 2

Charge ladder

1. Name injury/serious injury or threatened harm under the current source.
2. State that offence’s physical focus and exact fault.
3. Test common-law assault independently: application or apprehension and its mens rea.
4. Analyse consent or lawful excuse within its recognised scope.
5. Rank best charge + realistic alternative by the disputed element.

Trap → Serious consequence ≠ highest fault. Consent is not blanket permission; identify activity, agreed scope, departure and governing limit.

Three-pass proof audit

Pass 1 tags each fact as conduct, circumstance, result, fault or defence. Pass 2 puts the governing statutory or common-law source beside it. Pass 3 writes the evidence and inference. Any conclusion without both source and fact becomes explicit uncertainty.

05 · Homicide route Guide ch 3

Split → Cause asks connection to death. Fault asks the accused’s required state of mind. Never use the fatal outcome to fill a fault gap.

06 · Manslaughter forks Guide ch 3

Causation ledger

List contributions in time order; beside each, state the legal question and closest authority. Do not say a later event breaks the chain until explaining whether the accused’s conduct remains legally significant. For omission, identify duty first, then breach, criminal degree and causal connection. If murder fault is uncertain, name the supported manslaughter route and what blocks the other.

07 · Self-defence Crimes Act ss 322G–322N

Complete the prima facie offence first. Then identify the particular statutory provision and apply its current language to perception, purpose, response and evidence. Related Jury Directions Act provisions identify the live issue.

Two-phase answer

Phase 1: apply the offence and defence to the initial response. Phase 2: if the threat changes, analyse later conduct again. A defence for the first act does not automatically cover everything after it.

Trap → Fear is evidence, not the whole test. A weapon is evidence, not automatic defeat. Do not project later knowledge backwards.

13 · Procedure chain Guide ch 8

Statute is paramount. For each stage write actor · source · trigger · facts known then · limit · safeguard · supported consequence. Later evidence cannot repair an earlier deficiency. Jurisdiction and charging are marked non-examinable.

Stage checklist

For each arrest, execution, detention and identification stage, record actor, statutory source, trigger, permitted act, limit, safeguard and facts known then. State a separate conclusion for each stage and only the consequence supported by the course materials.

09 · Sexual offences Guide ch 5

Legislation leads; assigned cases illustrate but do not replace it. Identify the precise offence and conduct first, then keep consent and the accused’s awareness or asserted reasonable belief separate.

10 · Assumption audit Jury Directions Act

Audit any inference from injury, resistance, silence, delay, appearance, other sexual activity or post-offence contact. Replace stereotype with the applicable provision/direction and the evidence actually led.

Exam use → End with separate conclusions on conduct, consent and awareness/belief. If one fact proves all three without explanation, the analysis is compressed.

Belief evidence table

Use two columns: consent and accused belief. A fact may appear in both, but state its distinct legal use each time. Circle any inference drawn from injury, resistance, delay, appearance, past activity or later contact; replace stereotype with the applicable statutory provision or jury direction and the evidence actually present.

11 · Property routes Guide ch 6

Overlap → State shared facts once, then compare only the distinguishing elements. Permission does not automatically end appropriation analysis.

12 · Attempts Crimes Act ss 321M, 321N, 321P

1. Name the intended principal offence and intended elements.
2. Number acts; identify the first act said to cross the statutory conduct threshold.
3. Prove specific intention separately from conduct.
4. Then analyse interruption, voluntary desistance or impossibility.
5. Check completed liability first: entry may already complete burglary.

Threshold drill

Number the acts and mark the first said to satisfy the statutory conduct test. Defend it, then move the line one act earlier and later; explain why each is weaker. Keep intention separate: tools, surveillance, words and scene conduct are evidence, not automatic satisfaction. For impossibility, set belief beside actual facts; for desistance, record what occurred, why the accused stopped and whether the threshold was crossed.

14 · Drill 1: backpack Guide ex 1.1 · 6 steps

Facts. Priya deliberately swings a backpack onto her shoulder in a crowd. It strikes Rowan, who falls and is injured. Priya says she never saw Rowan.

Counterfactual switches

• No injury: reselect offence; do not force an injury charge.
• Prior warning: changes evidence of awareness, not physical result.
• Rowan saw swing first: consider apprehension branch independently.

Trap → “She meant to swing” is not “she meant or was reckless as to the prohibited consequence”.

23 · Final 60-second audit All chapters

• Offence and realistic alternative ranked?
• Physical and fault elements separated?
• Defence after prima facie offence?
• Conclusion matches evidential strength?

Last line → State the factual issue that controls the result.

Charge ladder check

Start with the least factually demanding plausible offence, then state the added proposition for each higher alternative. Reverse the ladder: explain why the most serious label may fail while another remains. Put medical evidence beside injury, witness perception beside apprehension and surrounding conduct beside fault.

16 · Drill 2: fatal chain Guide ex 3.1 · 8 steps

Facts. Tariq shoves Uma from a low platform. Uma fractures her leg and dies after rare equipment failure interrupts treatment. Tariq says he intended only a minor push.

Conclusion → Name the strongest route and the decisive missing fact; do not offer manslaughter as an unexplained compromise.

One-fact variations

Change only the later event, then re-run legal causation. Change only evidence of intention or recklessness, then re-run murder fault. For omission, identify the legal duty before breach, criminal degree and causal connection. This exposes which proposition—not the emotional force of death—actually changes.

Alternative-charge minute

State why murder may be uncertain, which manslaughter pathway the facts genuinely support and which element prevents the other becoming an automatic fallback. Keep the physical sequence constant while changing only intention or recklessness evidence; then keep fault constant while changing the victim response, treatment or third-party act. Say whether fault or causation changed, and why.

17 · Drill 3: consent sequence Guide ex 5.1 · 8 steps

Facts. Casey says “slow down” twice and moves Jordan’s hand away. Jordan pauses, then resumes sexual contact after Casey becomes quiet. Jordan relies on silence and calm appearance; no injury is recorded.

Assumption repair

Language → Neutral, precise, statutory. Keep conduct, consent and accused awareness/belief as three separate conclusions.

Paired-scenario audit

Change only words or actions communicating agreement, then only facts said to support belief. Compare conclusions without importing facts between versions. If intoxication is raised, identify its assigned provision and legal consequence. Finish with separate findings on conduct, consent, and awareness or reasonable belief.

18 · Drill 4: warehouse Guide ex 7.1 · 6 steps

Facts. Lena studies a warehouse, copies an access code, arrives with empty bags, opens a secured door and steps inside. An alarm sounds; she leaves without approaching goods.

Trap → “She had criminal intent” proves neither the statutory conduct threshold nor that no offence was already complete.

Four failure modes

Attempt worksheet

Use four columns: principal offence, intended elements, conduct and reason for non-completion. For interruption, remorse, impossibility and preparation, apply the statutory threshold. Test completed liability: entry may complete burglary while intended theft remains incomplete. Treat tools, surveillance and scene conduct as evidence. For desistance, state what occurred, why they stopped and whether the threshold was crossed. End with offence, threshold act, fault and reason for failure.

19 · Procedure rapid recall Guide ch 8

Apply the stage chain to any arrest/detention facts. Freeze the information available at each decision; later discoveries affect only stages reached after they became known.

Known-at-the-time ledger

Scope → Statute first. Jurisdiction and charging are marked non-examinable; focus detail on principles, arrest, execution, detention and identification.

20 · Property overlap recall Guide ch 6

For a false-payment transfer, apply theft’s five elements, then deception’s false representation, causal obtaining and fault. Apparent permission does not end appropriation; a lie alone does not complete deception. Rank each statutory pathway independently.

Power-by-power audit

For each power, write the statutory actor, threshold, permitted action, duration or limit, safeguard and review point. Change the information held at arrest while keeping eventual evidence constant; then hold arrest facts constant and alter delay, questioning or identification. State which statutory condition becomes decisive.

21 · Time + answer frame Course exam facts

The published materials give 2.5 hours but no question count, section structure or per-question marks. Use the paper’s actual marks when released.

22 · Trap table FAQs + worked examples

15 · Fast element audit Guide ch 1–2

Underline every conclusion. If it lacks a governing source or fact, mark the gap and state uncertainty instead of assuming the result.