Criminal Law and Land Law Flashcards

What is the defence of duress in Irish criminal law?

Answer: Duress is available where a person is threatened with death or serious injury unless they commit a crime, the threat is imminent and real, and a person of reasonable firmness would have yielded — it is not available for murder or attempted murder

Duress as a defence requires: a threat of death or serious injury, directed at the accused or their family, that is immediate and operating at the time of the offence, that a person of reasonable fortitude would have yielded to, and there was no safe avenue of escape. Murder is excluded following R v Howe.

What is a profit à prendre in Irish property law?

Answer: A right to take something from another person's land — such as the right to fish, shoot, take turf, or graze animals — it is a right in rem and can exist independently of a dominant tenement

A profit à prendre is the right to enter another's land and take something from it — fish, game, minerals, turf (turbary), grazing (pasture). Unlike an easement, it can exist in gross (without a dominant tenement) and can be sold separately from any land.

What is the Occupancy Principle in relation to criminal law — the concept of territorial jurisdiction in Ireland?

Answer: Irish criminal courts have jurisdiction over offences committed within the State's territory and, by statute, over certain extraterritorial offences (e.g. sexual offences abroad by Irish citizens)

Ireland's primary basis for criminal jurisdiction is territorial — where the offence occurred. Statutes extend jurisdiction extraterritorially for certain serious offences (child sexual abuse, genocide, terrorism) where an Irish connection exists, in accordance with international law principles.

What is the principle of nemo dat quod non habet in Irish property law?

Answer: A person cannot transfer a better title than they themselves have — exceptions include sale in market overt (abolished), estoppel, and statutory exceptions under the Sale of Goods Acts

Nemo dat (no one gives what they do not have) prevents the transfer of title the transferor does not possess. Important exceptions: estoppel, sale by a mercantile agent, sale under a voidable title, and statutory exceptions protect bona fide purchasers for value in commercial contexts.

What is the actus reus of theft under the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001 in Ireland?

Answer: Dishonestly appropriating property belonging to another without the owner's consent — the act of appropriation must be accompanied by the mental element of intention to permanently deprive

Section 4 of the 2001 Act defines theft as dishonest appropriation of property belonging to another, intending to permanently deprive. 'Appropriation' is broad — any assumption of the rights of the owner qualifies, including keeping found property.

What is the effect of registration on title to land under the Registration of Title Act 1964 in Ireland?

Answer: Registration confers a parliamentary title — the registered owner's title is guaranteed by the State. A bona fide purchaser for value who registers takes free of unregistered burdens except overriding interests

Registration under the 1964 Act confers a parliamentary (indefeasible) title guaranteed by the State. The register is the primary source of information about title. Overriding interests (e.g. rights of persons in actual occupation, short leases) bind purchasers even without registration.