Please read the module fully then pick two question from the list below and answer each question with 135 words. make sure to specify which to question you have chosen.
Discuss the relevance and significance of cognitive capacities and volitional capacities for criminal
responsibility. What are the moral implications of holding people criminally responsible for conduct that they “could not help”?
(ii) What are the key differences between a “subjective” standard or principle and an “objective” standard or principle in the context of criminal responsibility? What might be the implications of legal decision makers opting for one rather than the other?
(iii) What are the crucial distinctions between actus reus and mens rea, and what are some examples of what must be legally proven for each? Which philosophical issues are raised by these legal categories.
(iv) Discuss conceptual differences between necessity, duress and self-defence.
(v) What are the criteria that need to be satisfied for a person to be acquitted on the grounds of self-defense, under Canadian criminal law?
(vi) How can feminist legal theory help us to better appreciate the issues at stake in the case of R.v. Lavallee? (vii) What are some pervasive myths and stereotypes about victims of domestic violence that are discussed by the
judges in the R. v. Lavallee ruling?
(viii) How can expert evidence be of assistance to a court and jury, with respect to those myths and stereotypes? (ix) How might the battered woman syndrome itself potentially perpetuate stereotypes?
