22. Assisting and encouraging

Abstract

This chapter considers the ways in which criminal law applies to those responsible for assisting or encouraging crimes, i.e. the nature and extent of secondary participation in a crime. The following controversies are examined: the conceptual basis for secondary liability; what is meant by ‘aiding, abetting, counselling, and procuring’; the mens rea necessary to establish secondary liability; the elements of ‘joint enterprise’ liability; and the Supreme Court’s decision in Gnango.