IRAC Tips
As you know, IRAC stands for ‘Issue’, ‘Rule’, ‘Application’, and ‘Conclusion’. While it isn’t
the only approach you can adopt for a problem question, it is an incredibly useful one for
undergraduate study for a number of reasons. Firstly, it acts as a mental checklist to ensure
you consider all the relevant factors. Second, it provides a readymade structure for your
answer: allowing you to adopt a consistent approach to answering problem questions. Third,
it makes it easy for markers to pick out the key points you are making in your answer
(remember what I said about making it easy for us to give you marks!). Finally, the overall
flow of your submissions has a big impact on how we mark: a clear structure conveys
comprehension and comfort with the topic dealt with, rather than a disparate collection of
points giving an impression of confusion.
The following will set out some things for you to consider regarding each of the four
sections. This is just a personal resource I’ve drafted, and isn’t comprehensive. I also
recommend that you check out the resources on Law Study Home, the Law Undergraduate
Guide, the module materials, and the support pages on the OU Library site.
One of the first things I recommend you determining is whether you are being asked about
overall criminal liability for an offence, which will involve multiple issues (think of the
various actus reus and mens rea elements for the offence in question), or whether it is one
specific issue (relating to a single point related to an element of actus reus or mens rea).
Students sometimes make the mistake of setting out multiple issues, when in reality there is
just one issue in play, but there are multiple rules/parts to the relevant rule related to the
issue.
**** If you are asked to examine overall criminal liability for an offence/offences, I would
frame your answer using this at the start, and give the definition of the offence. For example,
if the question asks you to look at whether Barry is liable for theft, you could start with:
‘This answer will examine whether Barry is liable for [insert offence(s)]. Theft is defined
as… [insert definition for offence(s)]. ****
Issue
This section causes a lot of difficulty for new students in terms of the number of issues they
need to deal with as part of the question. During the course of the module you can be asked to
deal with problem scenarios concerning criminal liability (multiple issues), and narrower
specific issue questions.
Over the course of the module you may have seen the following equation repeated in various
units:
Actus Reus + Mens Rea + Valid Defence = No criminal liability for that offence.
Actus Reus + Mens Rea – Valid Defence = Criminal liability for that offence.
This reflects the requirement that, firstly, the AR and MR of an offence must both be met for
there to be liability and, secondly, a valid defence can result in either acquittal or liability for
a lesser offence (thinking of murder/manslaughter). The issue(s) for a problem can be thought
of as the ‘points of controversy’: ‘what are the key factors in dispute that will determine the
outcome?’. To determine these you will need to employ a thorough understanding of the law,
with knowledge of the AR and MR of specific offences the most important factor. These,
along with any relevant defences, will form your key issues.
If the question is more specific than a criminal liability question, then you will only have one
issue. I noted that some people tend to break down their answers for these into multiple
issues, but what they are actually doing is treating each of the rules as an issue.
Rule
The requirements of this section, and its relationship with the ‘application’ section seem to
cause issues for a lot of students. It is important that your ‘rule’ segment is comprehensive:
you need to write enough about the law to provide the context in which you will analyse the
facts. It is the material you set out in this section that provides the justification and reasoning
for your analysis. Remember that any relevant case law or legislation needs to be introduced
at this stage: don’t mention a case in your ‘application’ or ‘conclusion’ that you haven’t
raised at this stage.
When considering the content for this section, think of the following:
i. Elements of the offence definition: as you know, the definition of every offence will
contain words/phrases that indicate either AR or MR components of the offence.
When considering each of these two issues, you will need to provide a rule for each of
these elements. This could be in the form of a definition of a word, or a test for
whether it is present in the facts.
ii. Where to find the rule: when supplying the rule for each of these elements, you will
need to identify whether the relevant rule comes from legislation, or from case law.
Make sure you reference the source of your rule.
iii. Exceptions and limitations to the rule: this will not apply to every case, but if there
are any exceptions/limitations relevant please note them, along with the legal source
that establishes/clarifies this.
Within the ‘rule’ segment for each issue, it is best to start with the broadest element of the
rule(s) initially, before moving on to the specific elements/qualifying elements.
Don’t begin any discussion of the facts of the given scenario until you reach the next
section.
Application
This is perhaps the most important of the four parts of IRAC: this is where you wield the
legal rules you have set out against the facts of the scenario you have been given. It requires
you to really interact with the facts of the scenario: too often students are guilty of making
broad, sweeping statements, or providing overarching analysis, without really engaging with
the facts.
A good starting point for your approach here is to take each of your rules you have outlined
(from your comprehensive ‘rule’ section!), and treat it as an item to be ticked off regarding
the scenario. You need to examine the scenario, and determine the key facts that relate to
each of the rules you have set out. Match up each element/factor from your rule segment with
a fact in the scenario. Keep the word because in your head here: this will reinforce to you
that you are making a connection between the rules and the facts. Be specific and thorough
when engaging with the facts.
Conclusion
This one is pretty self-explanatory! You need to provide a conclusion in relation to the issue,
in light of the analysis of the facts using the rules you conducted in your application. This
should be quite a short section. Note, that I often use qualifying terms like ‘it is likely’, ‘it is
very likely’, or ‘it is probable’ here. While this does not apply to every issue (some are clear
cut), I often do this for two reasons:
i. Different tribunals of fact (juries for Crown Court, magistrates for Magistrates’ Court)
may come to different conclusions on the same/similar sets of facts.
ii. There may be conflicting arguments available when the facts are analysed, and you
may want to qualify your answer.
Be careful in this section that you are not introducing new rules or analysis: these should all
have been dealt with in their own sections. This section is purely to wrap up and confirm the
conclusion you have come to.
**** For criminal liability problem questions you will need to provide a summary at the end:
an overall conclusion on liability now that you have considered the AR, MR, and any valid
defences. Remember the equation when you are giving your conclusion! ****