Haughton v. Smith
Encyclopedia
Haughton v Smith, [1975] AC 476, [1973] 3 All ER 1109, [1974] 3 W.L.R. 1 was a case heard in the House of Lords
, which held that it was impossible to commit the crime of handling stolen goods where the goods in question were not in fact stolen; nor could an offence of attempting to handle stolen goods be committed in the same circumstances.
's statement about the impossibility of crimes is often quoted at 19 (citing to All E.R..):
This case was subsequently overturned by the Criminal Attempts Act 1981
. There is an in-depth discussion of the law of attempted crimes, in particular the debate about criminal liability in issues of impossible crimes
.
Judicial functions of the House of Lords
The House of Lords, in addition to having a legislative function, historically also had a judicial function. It functioned as a court of first instance for the trials of peers, for impeachment cases, and as a court of last resort within the United Kingdom. In the latter case the House's...
, which held that it was impossible to commit the crime of handling stolen goods where the goods in question were not in fact stolen; nor could an offence of attempting to handle stolen goods be committed in the same circumstances.
Judgement
Viscount DilhorneReginald Manningham-Buller, 1st Viscount Dilhorne
Reginald Edward Manningham-Buller, 1st Viscount Dilhorne PC, QC , known as Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller, Bt, from 1954 to 1962 and as The Lord Dilhorne from 1962 to 1964, was an English lawyer and Conservative politician...
's statement about the impossibility of crimes is often quoted at 19 (citing to All E.R..):
- A man taking his own umbrella from a club, thinking it the property of someone else, does not steal. His belief does not convert his conduct into an offence. In my view, it matters not that the crime cannot be committed as a result of physical impossibility, e.g. the absence of the property he wants to steal, or of legal impossibility. In either case he cannot be convicted of an attempt when he could not be convicted of the full offence if he had succeeded in doing all that he attempted to do. Conduct which is not criminal is not converted into criminal conduct by the accused believing that a state of affairs exists which does not.
This case was subsequently overturned by the Criminal Attempts Act 1981
Criminal Attempts Act 1981
The Criminal Attempts Act 1981 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It applies to England and Wales and creates criminal offences pertaining to attempting to commit crimes...
. There is an in-depth discussion of the law of attempted crimes, in particular the debate about criminal liability in issues of impossible crimes
Impossibility defense
An Impossibility defense is a criminal defense occasionally used when a defendant is accused of a criminal attempt that failed only because the crime was factually or legally impossible to commit. Factual impossibility is rarely an adequate defense at common law. In the United States,...
.