Breach of the Peace
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- Date Submitted: 01/09/2014 09:15 AM
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The crime of breach of the peace in Scottish criminal law
The crime of breach of the peace in Scottish criminal law will be explained and it will be shown why the crime has been redefined in recent years. In doing so, various case law and academic opinion will be assessed and it will be shown whether there is a clear definition of such crime or whether it is rather confusing and difficult to establish because of the array of case law that has attempted to define such activity. It will be shown that the law in this area is somewhat ambiguous and produces many problems because of the broad definition of breach of the peace; however it is apparent that much of the case law has attempted to define such activity. Nevertheless, because of the differing decisions which have been produced finding that the offence has been committed it is somewhat difficult to identify whether a particular activity is a breach of the peace or not. Thus, it is apparent that more is needed so as to elaborate on the current definitions stating what should and should not amount to such a crime.
Scotland’s criminal law relies heavily upon the common law, including the public order offence of breach of the peace. This offence was created in order to remove violent offenders immediately from a scene so as to ensure that they keep the peace. It has been noted by Christie that; “so far as offences against society are concerned, breach of the peace is perhaps the most broadly defined and frequently used” and that “it covers almost any kind of anti-social behaviour, so long as it is likely to create fear, alarm, annoyance or upset among the general public.” Nevertheless, such a broad definition of breach of the peace causes many problems and difficulties within this area of the law and it is uncertain whether a particular activity will be an offence or not, thus the person who is committing such an offence may not be aware that they are doing so. This evidentially causes much ambiguity and...
The crime of breach of the peace in Scottish criminal law will be explained and it will be shown why the crime has been redefined in recent years. In doing so, various case law and academic opinion will be assessed and it will be shown whether there is a clear definition of such crime or whether it is rather confusing and difficult to establish because of the array of case law that has attempted to define such activity. It will be shown that the law in this area is somewhat ambiguous and produces many problems because of the broad definition of breach of the peace; however it is apparent that much of the case law has attempted to define such activity. Nevertheless, because of the differing decisions which have been produced finding that the offence has been committed it is somewhat difficult to identify whether a particular activity is a breach of the peace or not. Thus, it is apparent that more is needed so as to elaborate on the current definitions stating what should and should not amount to such a crime.
Scotland’s criminal law relies heavily upon the common law, including the public order offence of breach of the peace. This offence was created in order to remove violent offenders immediately from a scene so as to ensure that they keep the peace. It has been noted by Christie that; “so far as offences against society are concerned, breach of the peace is perhaps the most broadly defined and frequently used” and that “it covers almost any kind of anti-social behaviour, so long as it is likely to create fear, alarm, annoyance or upset among the general public.” Nevertheless, such a broad definition of breach of the peace causes many problems and difficulties within this area of the law and it is uncertain whether a particular activity will be an offence or not, thus the person who is committing such an offence may not be aware that they are doing so. This evidentially causes much ambiguity and...