Denial of Elements of Offences

Abstract

A defendant who faces a criminal charge and wishes to plead not guilty has a number of courses open to her. Some defendants are excluded from the ambit of the criminal law altogether, however heinous their crime, for example those under the age of criminal responsibility and those who are insane. If these exemptions do not apply then a defendant can simply argue that the prosecution has not proved its case beyond reasonable doubt but put forward no evidence to rebut it, arguing there is ‘no case to answer’ (see Section 2.4). More likely the defence may want to try and introduce evidence to counter the prosecution’s case.