Common Purpose (Qld)

Common purpose is a criminal law doctrine under which a person can be held responsible for acts that are carried out by others if they were a party to an agreement to carry out criminal conduct. This page deals with common purpose.  

Legislation

In Queensland, the doctrine of common purpose is set out in section 8 of the Criminal Code Act 1899.

This provision states that when two or more persons form a common intention to prosecute an unlawful purpose in conjunction with each other, and in the prosecution of such purpose an offence is committed that was a probable consequence of the prosecution of such purpose, each of the persons is deemed to have committed the offence.  

What amounts to common purpose?

An agreement to carry out an offence may be explicitly stated, or it may be implied through conduct. It exists wherever an understanding or agreement exists between two or more people to carry out a criminal act.

Under the doctrine of common purpose, a person can be found to be responsible for criminal acts where the elements of the offence were carried out by someone else. This is the case even where the offence committed is not the exact offence that was contemplated when the agreement was made. It is enough that the offence is within the ambit of what was likely to result from the acts that were planned.  

It is common for persons to be found guilty on the basis of common purpose in the following situations:

• Where a person acted as a ‘lookout’ while another person entered a building to steal property
• Where a person was a passenger in a car that was taken and driven without permission
• Where three persons together threatened to assault a person and steal property from them, even if only one of the persons made the threat

On the basis of common purpose, every member of a group may be found guilty of an offence even where only one person committed the physical act that is the basis of the offence (or the physical acts that are the basis of several offences).

Proof of common purpose

The prosecution has the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that a person shared a common purpose with another person. An accused person does not have to prove that they did not form a common purpose with others. In order to be found guilty on the basis of common purpose, a person must have had the capacity to understand the agreement that was being formed.

Evidence that a person shared a common purpose with others may consist of evidence of things they said or did prior to the commission of the offence such as conversations about a housebreak that was planned for the following night, or the fact that the accused person did preparatory acts such as dressing in a certain way or arming themselves with housebreaking implements.

It may also consist of things that a person did during the commission of an offence – such as standing watch outside a shop while another person was breaking into it – even where no explicit discussion had occurred about a burglary.

Withdrawal from agreement

A person may withdraw from an agreement to commit a criminal act if they do so before any offences have been committed. When this occurs, they are no longer part of the agreement and are not responsible for any offences that occur.

A person may withdraw from an agreement verbally or through their conduct.

If a person is charged with an offence on the basis of common purpose and claims that they withdrew from the agreement before the offence was committed, they have a defence. In this situation, the prosecution will need to adduce evidence that there was an agreement. If this is established, the accused will then need to adduce evidence that they withdrew from the agreement.  

To establish that a person withdrew from a criminal agreement, they will need evidence of things they said or did to make it clear to the other group members that they were no longer involved in the enterprise. The court will then decide whether the accused person’s actions were sufficient to withdraw from the common purpose.

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