Facts
- Three men, including Chan Wing-Siu, committed a robbery in Hong Kong, entering a home to steal.
- During the robbery, one of the attackers killed a victim.
- Chan Wing-Siu and another accomplice were charged with murder.
- The issue arose as to whether knowledge that a co-accused might commit murder during the robbery was sufficient to convict other participants as secondary parties.
Issues
- Whether foresight that a principal offender might commit murder during the joint enterprise was sufficient to convict secondary parties of murder.
- Whether secondary liability required intent to assist or encourage the specific crime, or whether awareness that such a crime might be committed sufficed.
- How the distinction between foresight and intention affected the mental element required for secondary liability in joint enterprise.
Decision
- The Privy Council held that awareness of the possibility that the principal offender might commit murder was sufficient to convict secondary parties of murder.
- The court ruled that if secondary participants foresaw the risk of a more serious offense and proceeded, they accepted responsibility and could be held liable for that offense.
- This set a new standard, moving from requiring shared intent to accepting foresight of possible outcomes as sufficient for secondary liability.
Legal Principles
- Established that foresight of a potential crime by the principal offender, rather than intention, was enough to establish secondary liability in joint enterprise.
- Distinguished between intention (aiming for a result) and foresight (understanding a result might occur) for secondary liability.
- This principle formed the basis for joint enterprise liability in subsequent cases, such as R v Powell; R v English [1999] 1 AC 1.
- The approach was later re-evaluated and rejected by the Supreme Court in R v Jogee; Ruddock v The Queen [2016] UKSC 8, which held that foresight is only evidence of intent but not sufficient by itself for liability.
Conclusion
R v Chan Wing-Siu marked an important development in joint enterprise liability by making foresight of potential crimes sufficient for secondary liability, though this approach was later overturned in R v Jogee. The case remains significant for its influence on the legal understanding and debate surrounding joint enterprise and secondary liability in criminal law.