PART I - ATTEMPTS ETC.

Attempt

1

Attempting to commit an offence.

(1) If, with intent to commit an offence to which this section applies, a person does an act which is more than merely preparatory to the commission of the offence, he is guilty of attempting to commit the offence.

[F1(1A) Subject to section 8 of the Computer Misuse Act 1990 (relevance of external law), if
this subsection applies to an act, what the person doing it had in view shall be treated
as an offence to which this section applies.
(1B) Subsection (1A) above applies to an act if—
(a) it is done in England and Wales; and
(b) it would fall within subsection (1) above as more than merely preparatory to the
commission of an offence under section 3 of the Computer Misuse Act 1990 but for the fact that the offence, if completed, would not be an offence triable in England and Wales.]

(2) A person may be guilty of attempting to commit an offence to which this section applies
even though the facts are such that the commission of the offence is impossible.
(3) In any case where—
(a) apart from this subsection a person’s intention would not be regarded as having
amounted to an intent to commit an offence; but
(b) if the facts of the case had been as he believed them to be, his intention would
be so regarded,
then, for the purposes of subsection (1) above, he shall be regarded as having had an
intent to commit that offence.
(4) This section applies to any offence which, if it were completed, would be triable in
England and Wales as an indictable offence, other than—
(a) conspiracy (at common law or under section 1 of the M1Criminal Law Act 1977
or any other enactment);
(b) aiding, abetting, counselling, procuring or suborning the commission of an
offence;
(c) offences under section 4(1) (assisting offenders) or 5(1) (accepting or agreeing
to accept consideration for not disclosing information about an arrestable
offence) of the M2Criminal Law Act 1967.

Article 25
Individual criminal responsibility
3. In accordance with this Statute, a person shall be criminally responsible and liable for punishment for a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court if that person:
(f) Attempts to commit such a crime by taking action that commences its execution by means of a substantial step, but the crime does not occur because of circumstances independent of the person's intentions. However, a person who abandons the effort to commit the crime or otherwise prevents the completion of the crime shall not be liable for punishment under this Statute for the attempt to commit that crime if that person completely and voluntarily gave up the criminal purpose.