''Haughton v Smith'' was a judicial case in which the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

ruled that it was impossible to commit the crime of

handling stolen goods Possession of stolen goods is a crime in which an individual has bought, been given, or acquired stolen goods. In many jurisdictions, if an individual has accepted possession of goods (or property) and knew they were stolen, then the individua ...

where the goods were not stolen; nor could an offence of attempting to handle them be committed in such circumstances. The latter part of the ruling was partially overturned by the

Criminal Attempts Act 1981 The Criminal Attempts Act 1981 (c 47) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It applies to England and Wales and creates criminal offences pertaining to attempting to commit crimes. It abolished the common law offence of attempt. P ...

Judgement

Viscount Dilhorne Viscount Dilhorne, of Greens Norton in the County of Northampton, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 7 December 1964 for the lawyer, Conservative politician and former Lord Chancellor, Reginald Manningham-Buller, ...

's statement about the impossibility of crimes still often quoted after a 1981 as regards barring the full-offence charge for completed alleged offences (for which full

mens rea In criminal law, (; Law Latin for "guilty mind") is the mental element of a person's intention to commit a crime; or knowledge that one's action (or lack of action) would cause a crime to be committed. It is considered a necessary element ...

can be shown) but where the subject matter did not in the event amount to something prohibited: This case was partially overturned as it would relate to inchoate (incomplete) offences, which can be prosecuted by the

. of the law of attempted crimes, in particular the debate about criminal liability in issues of impossible crimes.

References

*{{cite BAILII , litigants=Haughton v. Smith , court=UKHL , division= , year=1973 , num=4, para= , date=1973-11-21
Decision
English criminal case law House of Lords cases 1975 in England 1975 in case law 1975 in British law