321Conspiracy to commit an offence

321 Conspiracy to commit an offence

S. 321(1) amended by No. 32/2024 s. 796.

(1) Subject to this Act, if a person agrees with any other person or persons that a course of conduct shall be pursued which will involve the commission of an offence by one or more of the parties to the agreement, the person is guilty of the indictable offence of conspiracy to commit that offence.

S. 321(2) amended by No. 32/2024 s. 796.

(2) For a person to be guilty under subsection (1) of conspiracy to commit a particular offence both the person and at least one other party to the agreement—

(a) must intend that the offence the subject of the agreement be committed; and

(b) must intend or believe that any fact or circumstance the existence of which is an element of the offence will exist at the time when the conduct constituting the offence is to take place.

S. 321(3) amended by No. 32/2024 s. 796.

(3) A person may be guilty under subsection (1) of conspiracy to commit an offence notwithstanding the existence of facts of which the person is unaware which make commission of the offence by the agreed course of conduct impossible.

S. 321(4) inserted by No. 10233 s. 9(a), amended by No. 68/2009 s. 97(Sch. item 40.15).

(4) An indictment charging an offence against this section must not be filed without the approval of the Director of Public Prosecutions or of a person authorized by the Director of Public Prosecutions to give approval for the purposes of this subsection.

S. 321AA inserted by No. 32/2024 s. 797.

321AA Agreement with child who may not be criminally responsible

A person may be found guilty of an offence against section 321 even if—

(a) the other party to the agreement referred to in that section is a child, or, if there is more than one other party to the agreement, all of the other parties to the agreement are children; and

(b) under section 10 or 11 of the Youth Justice Act 2024, it is presumed that the child, or those children, cannot commit the offence that is the subject of the agreement.

1 It is conclusively presumed that a child who is under 12 years of age cannot commit an offence—see section 10 of the Youth Justice Act 2024.

2 It is presumed that a child who is 12 or 13 years of age cannot commit an offence—see section 11 of the Youth Justice Act 2024.

S. 321A inserted by No. 10079 s. 7(2).