Announcements

 

Academy Documents

Kindly access the Students' Policies & Forms by clicking on the button below. The following documents, among others, can be found there: Student Handbook, Student Code of Conduct, Students' Privacy Notice, Deferral, Suspension, and Cancellation Policy, Assignment Extension Policy, Re-Sit Policy, Complaints Procedure Policy, Equality Policy, and Student Disciplinary Policy.

Students' Policies & Forms

 

Online Sessions Link

To join the online sessions for this module, please click on the button below. If you are not already signed in to your Zoom account, you will be prompted to register your attendance. You will also need to enter the password provided below.

Join Session

Meeting ID: 811 0006 7260
Passcode: 887378

Please ensure that your name and surname appear as registered for the study programme, as this is essential for recording your attendance.

 

Lecture Schedule & Notes

Lecture notes will be available during the week following the respective lecture. Schedule dates are indicative and may change. All changes, if any, may be communicated via email, SMS or telephone calls.

LectureDateTimePresentationNotes (If Any)Session Recoring
Lecture 0116 October 202417:30 to 20:30hrsPresentation 01Request
Lecture 021 November 202417:30 to 20:30hrsPresentation 02Request
Lecture 036 November 202417:30 to 20:30hrsPresentation 03Request
Lecture 048 November 202417:30 to 20:30hrsNotes- Criminal Liability
Notes - Punishment		Request
Lecture 0513 November 202417:30 to 20:30hrsPresentation 05Request
Lecture 0627 November 202417:30 to 20:00hrsPresentation 06Request
Lecture 0729 November 202417:30 to 20:00hrsPresentation 07Mitigating Circumstances
Insanity Judgement		Request

 

Lecturer 

Dr Roberta Bonello Felice

 

Lecture Summaries & Suggested Reading 

Lecture 1 - The Nature of a Criminal Offence

  • Defining a criminal offence
  • The difference between a criminal wrong and a civil wrong

Core Reading List

Supplementary Reading List

  • Antolisei, F. and Grosso, C., 2016. Manuale di diritto penale. Milano: Giuffrè.
  • Horder, J., 2019. Ashworth's Principles of Criminal Law. 9th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

 

Lecture 2 - The Classification of Criminal Offences

  • Commission and omission
  • Formal and material offences
  • Simple and complex offences
  • Instantaneous and continuing
  • Crimes and contraventions
  • Indictable & non-indictable and triable either way
  • Depenalised offences

Core Reading List

Supplementary Reading List

  • Antolisei, F. and Grosso, C., 2016. Manuale di diritto penale. Milano: Giuffrè.
  • Horder, J., 2019. Ashworth's Principles of Criminal Law. 9th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

 

Lecture 3 - The Main Offences under Maltese Law

  • Material and formal conditions of liability
    o actus reus
    o mens rea (dolo, culpa etc.)
    o specific intent
  • Negligence or Culpa
    o negligence in the Maltese Criminal Code
    o contributory negligence
    o the victim's consent
  • Operation of the Criminal Law
    o limitation by time
    o limitation by territory
  • Extradition / European Arrest Warrant

Core Reading List

Supplementary Reading List

  • Antolisei, F. and Grosso, C., 2016. Manuale di diritto penale. Milano: Giuffrè.
  • Horder, J., 2019. Ashworth's Principles of Criminal Law. 9th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

 

Lecture 4 - Defences

  • Grounds of defences to criminal charges
    • Civil subjection
    • Coercion
    • The notions of justification + excuse at law
    • A distinction between the justifiable and excusable homicides or body harm
    • A legitimate defence
    • Mistakes of law and mistakes of facts
    • Necessity (ius necessitates)
  • The General Grounds of defences from criminal liability
    • Insanity
    • Intoxication
    • Deaf
    • Infancy

Core Reading List

Supplementary Reading List

  • Antolisei, F. and Grosso, C., 2016. Manuale di diritto penale. Milano: Giuffrè.
  • Horder, J., 2019. Ashworth's Principles of Criminal Law. 9th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

 

Lecture 5 - Categories of Criminal Offences

  • Criminal Attempts
      • The definition of an attempted offence
      • the distinction between preparatory acts, acts of commencement of execution and ultimate consummation of the offence
      • the notion of voluntary desistance and accidental non-consummation of the offence
      • the punishment for an attempted offence
      • application of the notion of attempt to various classes of offences.
  • Complicity
      • Definition
      • The element of "common design" required between principal and accomplice
      • The acts of complicity (moral and physical participation)
      • The relationship between the notion of complicity and the notion of attempt
      • The real and personal circumstances
      • The punishment of principals and accomplices

Core Reading List

Supplementary Reading List

  • Antolisei, F. and Grosso, C., 2016. Manuale di diritto penale. Milano: Giuffrè.
  • Horder, J., 2019. Ashworth's Principles of Criminal Law. 9th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

 

Lecture 6 - Punishments

  • Forms of punishment
  • Probation order
  • Suspended sentence
  • Community work
  • Conditional discharge
  • Fines – multa & am

Core Reading List

Supplementary Reading List

  • Antolisei, F. and Grosso, C., 2016. Manuale di diritto penale. Milano: Giuffrè.
  • Horder, J., 2019. Ashworth's Principles of Criminal Law. 9th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

 

Lecture 7 - The Criminal Code

  • Forms of punishment
  • Probation order
  • Suspended sentence
  • Community work
  • Conditional discharge
  • Fines – multa & am

Core Reading List

Supplementary Reading List

  • Antolisei, F. and Grosso, C., 2016. Manuale di diritto penale. Milano: Giuffrè.
  • Horder, J., 2019. Ashworth's Principles of Criminal Law. 9th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

 

Methods of Assessment

2 Assignments 100% of final score

 

Assignment

You are required to choose two of the four questions available in the Assignment Submission Form made available by clicking the button below. The assignment must be submitted no later than Thursday, 23 January 2025, along with the Assignment Submission Form. Please ensure that you indicate the question you have addressed on the Assignment Submission Form.

Assignment Submission Form

For guidance on how to plan, draft, and submit your assignment, please refer to the 21 Academy presentation on Writing and Submitting Your Assignment by clicking the button below.

Writing and Submitting Your Assignment

We are also providing the 21 Academy's Assignments Rubric for your reference. This rubric is a performance-based assessment tool that tutors will use for grading, and it will help you understand the requirements of the assignment and how it will be assessed.

Assignments Rubric

For referencing purposes, please use the OSCOLA Referencing Guide available by clicking the button below.

OSCOLA Referencing Guide

 

Submitting Assignment - Turnitin

The Academy will notify you via email when the assignment questions become available. Shortly after, you will receive another email from Turnitin, likely on the same day, confirming your enrolment in a "class" where you can upload your assignment(s).

Please ensure that your assignments are submitted no later than 23:59 on the assignment submission deadline, as indicated on the Assignment Submission form or in the Turnitin "class."

At 21 Academy, you have the option to submit multiple drafts before the final submission deadline. The version uploaded at the deadline will be treated as your final submission for assessment. Please note that Turnitin evaluates the same assignment twice within a 24-hour period, so any additional submissions during this time will not be reviewed until the 24-hour period has passed. Ensure that your final submission does not exceed 20% similarity, particularly when using direct quotations.

Follow this very short video to understand how to submit your assignment through Turnitin

Submitting a Paper

To understand the similarity report generated by Turnitin follow this 1 minute video

Understanding the Similarity Report

 

Referencing Style

Law students should use the OSCOLA referencing style as it is the standard citation system for legal writing in Malta. It ensures consistency, accuracy, and clarity when referencing legal sources, which is essential for academic and professional work. The video below provides detailed guidance on how to reference using OSCOLA. Please also refer to the OSCOLA Referencing Guide by clicking the button below

OSCOLA Referencing Guide