Varieties of intention, criminal attempts and endangerment

Abstract

Intended conduct is not the only means by which people, for good or ill, make their presence felt in the world. Nonetheless, much judicial and academic learning exists on the meaning of intention in law. In spite of so much learning, however, our understanding of how intention affects the wrongfulness of conduct remains impoverished. The impression given by case law and commentary is that the important issues raised by the role of intention in the criminal law can largely be exhausted by exploration of the distinction between direct and oblique intention: between desired goals and side-effects foreseen as certain in acting. Nothing could be further from the truth. In particular, there is far more richness and complexity in the concept of direct intention itself than has been hitherto realised. In this article, I will focus on two more or less neglected species of direct intention: the intention to try to do wrong, and the intention to expose another to the risk of wrongdoing. An understanding of the moral significance of these kmds of intention enhances our understanding of the nature and scope of criminal attempts and possible offences of endangerment in English law.