Error and Mistake of Law in Anglo-American Criminal Law

G.Fletcher and A.Eser (eds) Justification and Excuse Comparative Perspectives (1988) at 3

30 Pages Posted: 6 Feb 2014

See all articles by A. T. H. Smith

A. T. H. Smith

Victoria University of Wellington, Te Herenga Waka - Faculty of Law; University of Cambridge

Date Written: 1988

Abstract

In the United Kingdom there is a division between jurisprudential and judicial thinking on the issue of error and mistake of law. The academic consensus is that the overriding principle should be that those who are not at fault should not be sanctioned by the criminal law. This contrasts with the judicial maxim that ignorance is not excuse. The article examines the substantive law in the UK and the United States, the desirability of the rule that mistake of law is no defence, and attempts to locate mistake of law within general rational for excuses. The maxim that mistake is not excuse has ignored the differences between different types of mistake and grouped them together for theoretical purposes. Abstract by Rose Goss.

Keywords: Error and mistake of law, ignorance, fault, culpability requirements, authorised reliance, theory of mistake of law

JEL Classification: K1, K14

Suggested Citation

Smith, A. T. H., Error and Mistake of Law in Anglo-American Criminal Law (1988). G.Fletcher and A.Eser (eds) Justification and Excuse Comparative Perspectives (1988) at 3, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2390889

A. T. H. Smith (Contact Author)

Victoria University of Wellington, Te Herenga Waka - Faculty of Law ( email )

PO Box 600
Wellington, 6140
New Zealand

University of Cambridge ( email )

10 West Road
Cambridge, CB3 9DZ
United Kingdom

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