Details
- Written by a leading academic within the field, this text provides an authoritative account of the core issues in criminal law today
- Numerous case summaries introduce students to the key cases in criminal law and illustrate the subject's fundamental principles and policies
- Each chapter includes a summary, further reading, and self-test questions, enabling students to consolidate their understanding of each topic and explore the subject further
- Thoughtful discussion of topical issues and current debates clarifies complex judgments and encourages students to think critically about this area of law
New to this edition
- Up-to-date coverage of recent case law, including Bristow (2013), Hughes (2013), Banfield (2013), andOye (2013)
- Fully revised discussion of insanity and automatism and the provisional reforms proposed by the Law Commission that address these issues
- Improved author commentary guides students through the essential cases with clear and thought-provoking analysis, clarifying complex judgments and highlighting interesting debates
- Revised chapter structure makes the book as approachable and manageable as possible, more closely matching the syllabi of criminal law courses
- Includes expert commentary on recent Law Commission reports and other valuable academic articles published since the last edition of this book
The Core Text Series provides students with reliable, concise, value-for-money coverage of key legal disciplines. Each title in the series seeks to strip its subject to the core - identifying the fundamental principles which underlie it and concentrating on the most important topics - while continuing to identify the intellectual challenges and difficulties within it. Each of the available texts takes you straight to the heart of the subject matter by providing a succinct and reliable account of the current law. Written by leading academic authors, titles in the series are invaluable guides for students of law at all levels.
Criminal Law provides a concise account of all the relevant aspects of criminal law in a manageable and thought-provoking way. Underpinned by the author's expert insight, this is an essential introductory guide to criminal law. In an area of law where case law is so integral to effective understanding of the different legal principles, Criminal Law provides numerous key case summaries to help you remember the key points of law with an authoritative guiding commentary to help you think critically about and around the subject.
Students are able to consolidate their own learning through supporting chapter summaries, further reading, and self-test questions throughout the book.
Readership: Suitable for undergraduate students studying a first module in criminal law.
1: Introduction
2: The conduct element of a crime
3: Criminal states of mind
4: Incapacitating conditions
5: General defences
6: Accomplices
7: Inchoate offences
8: Homicide
9: Crimes of non-fatal violence
10: Sexual offences
11: Theft, fraud, and other property offences
12: Criminal damage and public order offences
Nicola Padfield is a Reader in Criminal and Penal Justice at the Law Faculty and Master of Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge. A qualified barrister, she has published widely on criminal law and criminal justice and is a Bencher of the Middle Temple.
Review(s) from previous edition
"'Criminal Law by Nicola Padfield is an excellent book. Well written and well organised, its pithy coverage of the core elements meets the demands of any criminal law course.' - Robert Jago, The University of Surrey
"'Padfield gets to the heart of the matter, and engages in excellent critique, and gives extremely useful in-text quotations from cases, and comments on academic articles.'" - Dr Sharon Hanson, Canterbury Christ Church University
