Define: Joint Enterprise

Joint enterprise is a legal doctrine that allows multiple individuals to be held criminally liable for a single criminal offence they committed together. Also known as common purpose, common design, or joint criminal enterprise, this legal principle applies when two or more people agree to commit a crime together and actively participate in its commission. Under joint enterprise, each participant can be held responsible for the actions of the others, even if they did not personally carry out every aspect of the crime. This means that all individuals involved in the criminal venture can be charged, prosecuted, and convicted for the offence, regardless of their specific role or level of participation. Joint enterprise is often invoked in cases involving serious crimes such as murder, robbery, or conspiracy, where multiple individuals collaborate to achieve a common unlawful objective. However, the application of joint enterprise can be controversial, as it raises questions about individual culpability, fairness, and proportionality in criminal justice outcomes.

It is clear that if a number of people participate directly in the commission of a crime, then all are liable as principals (see: Principal (criminal)). In addition, it is well established that a number of people can be accomplices to each other. What is less clear is whether English law supports a separate notion of ‘joint enterprise’. Some authorities have maintained that offenders can be jointly liable by each contributing to the commission of the offence, such that all are ‘principals’ even though only one person carries out the Actus Reus of the offence. This view can be supported by the notion that the person who commits the act is the agent of the other offenders. An alternative view is that if the offenders have a common purpose, they will ‘aid and abet’ each other, and thus be caught by the existing law of Accomplice.

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This glossary post was last updated: 29th March, 2024.