Carleton University Department of Law and Legal Studies
Course Outline
COURSE: LAWS 2302E - Criminal Law
TERM: Winter 2015
PREREQUISITES: LAWS 1000
CLASS: Day & Time: Thursday - 6:05 p.m. – 8:55 p.m.
Room: Please check with Carleton Central for current room location
INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Roger R. Rickwood, LL.M., LL.B.
(CONTRACT)
CONTACT: Office: B442 – Contract Instructors’ Office, Loeb Building
Office Hrs: Thursdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. or by appointment
Telephone:
Email: roger.rickwood@connect.carleton.ca OR rogerrrickwood@aol.com
Dept. Website: www.carleton.ca/law
Academic Accommodations
You may need special arrangements to meet your academic obligations during the term. For an accommodation
request the processes are as follows:
Pregnancy obligation: write to me with any requests for academic accommodation during the first two weeks of
class, or as soon as possible after the need for accommodation is known to exist. For more details visit the Equity
Services website: http://www2.carleton.ca/equity/
Religious obligation: write to me with any requests for academic accommodation during the first two weeks of
class, or as soon as possible after the need for accommodation is known to exist. For more details visit the Equity
Services website: http://www2.carleton.ca/equity/
Academic Accommodations for Students with Disabilities: The Paul Menton Centre for Students with
Disabilities (PMC) provides services to students with Learning Disabilities (LD), psychiatric/mental health
disabilities, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), chronic medical
conditions, and impairments in mobility, hearing, and vision. If you have a disability requiring academic
accommodations in this course, please contact PMC at 613-520-6608 or pmc@carleton.ca for a formal
evaluation. If you are already registered with the PMC, contact your PMC coordinator to send me your Letter of
Accommodation at the beginning of the term, and no later than two weeks before the first in-class scheduled test
or exam requiring accommodation (if applicable). After requesting accommodation from PMC, meet with me to
ensure accommodation arrangements are made. Please consult the PMC website for the deadline to request
accommodations for the formally-scheduled exam (if applicable) at http://www2.carleton.ca/pmc/new-and-current-
students/dates-and-deadlines/
You can visit the Equity Services website to view the policies and to obtain more detailed information on
academic accommodation at http://www2.carleton.ca/equity/
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is presenting, whether intentional or not, the ideas, expression of ideas or work of others as one's own.
Plagiarism includes reproducing or paraphrasing portions of someone else's published or unpublished material,
regardless of the source, and presenting these as one's own without proper citation or reference to the original
source. Examples of sources from which the ideas, expressions of ideas or works of others may be drawn
from include but are not limited to: books, articles, papers, literary compositions and phrases, performance
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Outline – LAWS 2302E Criminal Law Winter 2015
compositions, chemical compounds, art works, laboratory reports, research results, calculations and the results of
calculations, diagrams, constructions, computer reports, computer code/software, and material on the Internet.
Plagiarism is a serious offence.
More information on the University’s Academic Integrity Policy can be found at:
http://www.carleton.ca/studentaffairs/academic-integrity/
Department Policy
The Department of Law and Legal Studies operates in association with certain policies and procedures.
Please review these documents to ensure that your practices meet our Department’s expectations.
http://www.carleton.ca/law/student-resources/department-policies/
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is designed to examine, in an increasingly complex constitutional and social
context, the principles of criminal law liability and responsibility in Canada, including issues and
problems surrounding mens rea, actus reus¸ and knowledge. Liability for unfulfilled crimes and
various degrees of participation in a crime will be assessed. Various defences, including
entrapment, self-defence, duress, necessity, provocation, intoxication and mental disorder will
be considered. The course examines the application of general principles of criminal liability to
some specific offences, including the various forms of homicide, sexual, property and terrorism
offences. Regulatory offences and corporate and organized crimes are also explored. A
historical legal and jurisprudential perspective is emphasized in the context of evolving Charter
protections, criminal law policy, and judicial review.
COURSE FORMAT Lectures and in-class discussions - three hours a week
– in-class registration taken
REQUIRED TEXTS
-STUART, Don, Ronald J. DELISLE, and Steve COUGLAN, Learning Canadian Criminal Law,
12th edition, Toronto, Carswell, 2012. ISBN 978-0-7798-4925-3 soft cover (referred to as
Stuart) paper – Available for purchase at Carleton University Bookstore
-Roach, Kent, Criminal Law, 5th ed., (Toronto Irwin law,2012), ISBN 13-978-15522-13018,
(referred to as Roach) paper. – Available for purchase at Carleton University Bookstore
-Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) (www.un.org)
-Handouts - including Criminal law offences and procedures summary
SUPPLEMENTARY TEXTS
-Saunders, R.P. and J. Mungale, Criminal Law in Canada, 4th ed.,(Toronto, Carswell,2002).
-Martin’s Annual Criminal Code 2014 Student Edition, (Toronto: Canada Law Book, 2013).
-Pocket Criminal Code 2014, (Toronto: Carswell, 2013).(referred to as PCC)
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Outline – LAWS 2302E Criminal Law Winter 2015
-O’Regan, Karla and Susan Reid, Thinking About Criminal Justice in Canada, (Toronto,
Emond Montgomery, 2013)
EVALUATION
N.B. All components must be completed in order to get a passing grade
First mid-term test (2 hours) (closed book) 30% - February 12
Second mid-term test – Take home case study 20%- Due March 19
Final examination (2 hours) 40%- (TBA in examination period
April 11-23, 2015)
Class/lecture participation 10%- (in-class registration taken)
ALL STUDENTS are required to sign the register at every class. Your participation mark
is based in part on attendance and in part on active participation in class discussions.
Explanation of your absence for medical and compassionate reasons will be considered
in adjusting the registration record. Excuses that you did not know there is a sign-in
registration will not be accepted. ONLY ATTENDING AN IN-CLASS EXAM WILL NOT BE
CONSIDERED ATTENDANCE FOR PURPOSES OF THE PARTICIPATION MARK.
SHOULD YOU FAIL TO ATTEND AT LEAST ONE REGULAR CLASS, YOU WILL RECEIVE
AN F FOR CLASS PARTICIPATION AND THUS WILL FAIL THE COURSE.
Standing in a course is determined by the course instructor subject to the approval of the
Department and of the Faculty Dean. This means that grades submitted by the instructor may
be subject to revision. No grades are final until they have been approved by the Department
and the Dean.
There will be a late penalty of 2 per cent per day after March 19 and no case study report will
be accepted after March 26. Case studies will only be accepted for marking in hard copy
format. Electronic copies will be accepted to establish date of receipt of case study only.
These will be downloaded, but will not be printed off or marked.
Exam preparation can benefit from reviewing statutes, notes and materials on 2302E cuLearn
site. Links to specific sections of the Criminal Code on Dept. of Justice website can be
accessed via cuLearn site. The Department Citation Style Guide is on cuLearn site and on the
Law & Legal Studies Department home page.
SCHEDULE
Jan. 8 Overview - Historical evolution of criminal law – Common Law to
Codification and to Canadian Bill of Rights and Canadian Charter of Rights
& Freedoms
- Roach, Ch. 1; Stuart, Ch. 1(1)(a)(b)(c)(d)
- UDHR (www.un.org); CCRF in PCC pp. 811-816 and CBR in PCC, pp. 807-809
Jan. 15 Criminal law and the Constitution. Federal and Provincial Responsibilities
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Outline – LAWS 2302E Criminal Law Winter 2015
- Roach, Ch. 2 and pp. 505-515; Stuart, Ch. 2(1)(2)(3)(4)
Jan.16 LAST DAY TO REGISTER/CHANGE COURSES
Jan. 22 The Prohibited Act (Actus Reus)
- Roach, Ch. 3; Stuart, Ch. 2(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)
Jan. 29 The Fault Element (Mens Rea)
- Roach, Ch. 5; Stuart, Ch.3 (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)
Feb. 5 Unfulfilled Crimes and Parties to a Crime; Mistake of Fact & Law
- Roach, Ch. 4 & 5, pp.184-189; Stuart, Ch. 8(1)(2)(3) and Ch. 9
Feb. 12 FIRST MID-TERM TERM TEST (In-class – 2 hours exam, closed book)
Feb. 16 Family Day – University closed
Feb. 16-20 Reading week – No class and no office hours on Feb. 19
Feb. 26 Criminal Defences – Incapacity, Provocation, Mental Disorder, Intoxication,
Automatism
- Roach, Ch. 7, 8; Stuart, Ch. 6(3)(4); Defences handout
Case Study Take Home Mid-Term Exam Handed Out - Due March 19, 2015
Projected date for return of first mid-term tests.
Mar. 5 Criminal Defences - Justifications and Excuses: Duress, Necessity, Self-
Defence, Consent, Policy Defences (Entrapment, Charter Protections)
- Roach, Ch. 9; Stuart, Ch.7(1)(2)(3)(9); Roach, pp,42-44, 465
Mar. 6 Final Date to Apply for Final Exam at Paul Menton Centre
Mar. 12 Special Part – Homicide and Sexual Offences
- Roach, Ch. 10; Stuart, Ch. 3(4)(5)(6)(7) and Ch. 4(1)(2)(3)(4)
Mar. 19 Special Part: 1) Theft and 2) Fraud
Property Offences
- Roach, ch. 10, pp.397-400; ch.9 (defence of property) pp.308-310
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Outline – LAWS 2302E Criminal Law Winter 2015
Case Study Due (No case studies accepted after Mar. 26 – 2% penalty per day
after March 19)
Mar. 26 Regulatory Offences and Corporate Crime
- Roach ch. 6 & ch.12, pp. 450-451; Stuart, Ch. 3(1)(2)(3)
Apr. 2 Last Class - Group Responsibility, Organized Crime, Terrorism and Charter
and Possible Future Criminal Law Reforms
- Course Evaluation and return of case studies
- Final Exam Review
- Roach, Ch.11, pp. 401-412; Stuart, Ch. 10
Apr. 3 Statutory holiday – University Closed – No classes – No office hours
Apr. 8 Last Day All Classes – Final Term Work Receipt Day for Approved
Deferrals – Last Day to Withdraw from Course without grade being
assigned.
Apr.9-10 Study Days
Apr. 11-23 Official Exam Period
FINAL EXAM - TBA (Date available on line Feb. 13)
(2 hours – closed book – in exam period) (covers lectures & materials from
Feb. 26-Apr. 2 – 50% quiz and 50% essay
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