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Strict liability crimes
Murder established if mens rea and actus reus present
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Critically evaluate the mens rea of murder. Within this coursework aiming to critically evaluate the mens rea of murder, focusing on each of the impacts which relate and combine with killing or causing grievous bodily harm to a person. The main issues I will focus on are, the intention of murder, recklessness, negligence and strict liability. Mens rea (MR) is the Latin phrase of ‘guilty mind. Mens Rea is the legal term used to describe the element of a criminal offence that relates to the defendants mental state. MR falls under many different crimes and has different forms of mens rea such as intention, recklessness, negligence or knowledge. The standard common law test of criminal liability is often expressed within the Latin phrase, actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea, which means "an act does not make a person legally liable unless the mind is legally blamable". However, in jurisdictions with due process, there must be an actus reus, or "guilty act," accompanied by some level of mens rea to constitute the crime with which the defendant is charged. As a general rule, criminal liability does not attach to a person who merely acted with the absence of mental fault. The exception is strict liability crimes. The MR of murder is to cause death or grievous bodily harm (GBH). Glanville Williams says mens rea refers to “the mental element necessary for the particular crime, and this mental element may be either intention to do the immediate act or bring about the consequence or (in some crimes) recklessness as to such act or consequence. In different and more precise language, MR means intention or recklessness as to the elements constituting the Actus Reus.” There are many different elements in relation to mens rea, firstly I ... ... middle of paper ... ...usion to this coursework, the mens rea of murder has many different elements such as within the element of intention which includes direct and oblique intent. It is clear that whether Nedrick or Woolin provides a definition or evidence of intention is undecided. In relation to recklessness, we understand that recklessness is not always an issue within the mens rea of murder. Recklessness is either Cunningham [1957] subjective and Caldwell objective. Finally I took negligence and strict liability into consideration with the mens rea of murder. Negligence within mens rea falls below the standard to be expected of the reasonable man. Strict liability does not require Mens Rea to be proved in relation to one or more Actus Reus elements. Finally to conclude the mens rea of murder is to kill or cause GBH, with the involvement of each of the above elements to be included.
The term ‘Actus Reus’ is Latin, and translates to ‘the guilty act’ , it refers to the thing that the offender did that wa...
Fisch, Harmanpreet Kaur drank alcohol and did cocaine. She then went to Mrs. Fisch’s address,
Murder at the Margin is a murder mystery involving various economic concepts. The story takes place in Cinnamon Bay Plantation on the Virgin Island of St. John. It is about Professor Henry Spearman, an economist from Harvard. Spearman organizes an investigation of his own using economic laws to solve the case.
Designs, Alissa. “The History of Homicide in the Criminal Code.” Victims Of Violence. Online 13 October 2003. < alissa’sdesigns@rogers?subject=victims%200f%20violence.com>
Actus reus refers to a criminal act that occurs or happens as a result of voluntary bodily movement (Dressler, 2015). In other words, it is a physical activity that harms an individual, or damage properties. Every physical activity such as murder to the destruction of public properties qualifies to be an actus reus. It consists of all the elements of a crime other than the state of mind of the offender. Apparently, it may consist of conduct, the state of affairs, result, or an omission.
By ruling the death of the attacker an accident, the murderer did not suffer consequences for his actions. Although Mr. Radley was defendi...
The “mens rea” of first degree murder is that the person, with time and intent, planned out or premeditated the murder. The “actus reas” of first degree murder is the actual act of committing the murder after planning it (Lippman, 2006).
middle of paper ... ... Works Cited Soghomon Tehlirian | Murderpedia, the Encyclopedia of Murderers. Soghomon Tehlirian | Murderpedia, the Encyclopedia of Murderers. N.p., n.d. Web. The Web.
It has been suggested that as many as 45 percent of killings are committed by people who lose their temper. The partial defence of provocation has existed for many years in common law, in the case of Maddy 1671 the courts accepted a plea of provocation after a man killed his wife after discovering her committing adultery. The defence of provocation was extended to men who killed their mistresses... ... middle of paper ... ... t’s verdict, and substituted a verdict of manslaughter, and the House of Lords affirmed this decision, deciding that mental characteristics and instabilities should be considered relevant not only to the gravity of the provocation but also to the standard of self-control to be expected.
Mens rea refers to the mental element involved in committing a crime and is concerned with the guilty mind of the defendant. Both intent and recklessness are categories of mens rea that are different and have different levels of culpability.
A crime consists of an actus reus and a mens rea, in order to obtain a conviction of a criminal charge there must be a concurrence between the actus reus and mens rea. The elements of a criminal act (actus reus) are: act, cause, social harm or omission condemned under a criminal statute (Lippman, 2012). The elements of mens rea: purposely, knowingly, recklessly, and negligently (Lippman, 2012). Attempted murder is the failed attempt to kill another human being deliberately, intentionally or recklessly (USLegal, 2014). “Georgia Code Title 16, Section 16-4-1: A person commits the offense of criminal attempt when, with intent to commit a specific crime, he performs any act which constitutes a substantial step toward the commission of that crime. Section 16-4-2: A person may be convicted of the offense of criminal attempt if the crime attempted was actually committed in pursuance of the attempt but may not be convicted of both the criminal attempt and the completed crime….” (Young, 2014, para. 1-2).
The subjective definition of recklessness is where the defendant takes an unjustified risk and was actually aware of the consequence, has been seen here to be the best approach when understanding reckless behaviour. Although within criminal law, the term recklessness has a second definition which is known to be objective recklessness. The objective definition argues that a person is reckless when the defendants take an unjustified risk and was actually aware or should have been aware. This essay establishes that the subjective definition of recklessness takes into account the individuals characteristics, the mental state of a defendant but also help to understand certain cases like rape. It has also been established here that elements of the objective definition is an extension from the subjective definition of recklessness, which therefore allows the subjective side holds greater weight and in terms of looking at if the reasonable man may have be incapable of foreseeing a consequence. Thus, it has been argued here that the subjective definition of recklessness in criminal law must be maintained.
To be criminally liable of any crime in the UK, a jury has to prove beyond reasonable doubt, that the defendant committed the Actus Reus and the Mens Rea. The Actus Reus is the physical element of the crime; it is Latin for ‘guilty act’. The defendant’s act must be voluntary, for criminal liability to be proven. The Mens Rea is Latin for guilty mind; it is the most difficult to prove of the two. To be pronounced guilty of a crime, the Mens Rea requires that the defendant planned, his or her actions before enacting them. There are two types of Mens Rea; direct intention and oblique intention. Direct intention ‘corresponds with everyday definition of intention, and applies where the accused actually wants the result that occurs, and sets out to achieve it’ (Elliot & Quinn, 2010: 59). Oblique intention is when the ‘accused did not desire a particular result but in acting he or she did realise that it might occur’ (Elliot & Quinn, 2010: 60). I will illustrate, by using relevant case law, the difference between direct intention and oblique intention.
A defence in criminal law arises when conditions exist to negate specific elements of the crime: the actus reus when actions are involuntary, the mens rea when the defendant is unaware of the significance of their conduct, or both. These defences will mitigate or eliminate liability from a criminal offence. Insanity, automatism and diminished responsibility are examples of said defences. They each share characteristics but can be distinguished in their scope and application.
Criminal responsibility is the moral practice of holding an individual accountable for there crimes. This responsibility allows people who are found guilty of crimes to endure punishment or rehabilitation, which can vary in different countries and legal systems. This not only punishes and discourages crime but also allow people to see the tools of state power and the symbolic power that it has to show the community the consequences for the individual, at least when looking at serious criminal offences. This demand on individual responsibility also hold person to account for the conduct, and often society want a response that condemns remorse or regret for their actions and to reflect on their tort (Tadros, 2010). Although individual responsibility holds persons reasonable for crimes, there are certain circumstances which persons are exempt. For example, children under a certain age to not have the mental capacity of being responsible agents which refereed back to as the Latin term ‘doli incpax’, incapable of forming intent to commit a tort. In Queensland, the federal law surrounding criminal liability states that persons under the age of 14 are doli incapax (Australian Parliament, nd) This exemption can also be perceived with persons who have mental illness. These exemption are reasonable due to that some people are incapable of controlling or understanding their mental and physical actions, therefore providing reasonable outcomes for those don’t have mental guilt or physical capability to commit a crime (Australian law reform commission, 2015). This acknowledgment to those who don’t understand criminal wrongs in relation to Mens rea and Actus reas, caters to the society diversity and overall doesn’t make a person liable for a criminal act that they didn’t have the capacity to undertake.