Citation

Mitchell B. Mod. Law Rev. 2001; 64(3): 393-412.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2001, Modern Law Review Limited, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/1468-2230.00327

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Crimes come in all shapes and sizes, but relatively little work has been done on offence structure – Robinson’s recent functional analysis is perhaps the one obvious exception. This article concentrates on incidents of multiple wrongdoing and suggests that the current substantive law is both inconsistent and confusing. Burglary, for example, is unnecessarily narrowly defined and should be expanded to include broadly similar scenarios. The law is confusing because it conflates qualitatively very different incidents under the same umbrella – serial killers, for example, commit the same crimes as those who kill multiple victims by one act. Not only does the law fly in the face of common sense but it conflicts with the principle of fair labelling – that crimes be defined to reflect their wrongfulness and severity – which seeks to fulfil some important functions in the criminal justice system.