Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Mens rea and Actus reus
- Actus Reus
- Guilty act
- Must be
voluntary
- Involuntary:
insanity or
automatism
- Action/Conduct
- The act itself,
no
consequences
- Perjury - Theft - Making off
without payment -
Rape - Possession
of drugs or a
firearm
- State of affairs
- Circumstances (sometimes consequences)
- consists of 'being' rather than 'doing'
- Omission
- The general rule regarding omissions is that
there is no liability for a failure to act.
- Exceptions
- Statutory duty
- Contractual duty
- Duty imposed by law
- Creating a dangerous
situation and failing to put
it right
- R v Miller1982
- Assumption of responsibility
- Misconduct in a public office
- Murder and manslaughter can
be committed as an omission,
but assault cannot
- Omission or act?
- Continuing acts
- Fagan v MPC 1969
- Result
- The conduct
itself may not
be criminal,
but the result
of the conduct
may be.
- Assault - Battery -
ABH - Wounding and
GBH - Murder &
Manslaughter -
Criminal damage
- Guilty mind
- Subjective
- defendant's perspective - What was he thinking
- Objective
- What a reasonable person would have thought
- When is not required is strict liability
- intention
- Having a good
motive does not
prevent from
intention
- Direct intent
- Consequence is desired
- Oblique intent
- Consequence is not desired, but known
- oblique intent it would be concerned only with
whether the defendant did foresee the degree of
probability of the result occurring from his
actions
- recklessness
- R v G and another
- Recklessness always require a subjective test
- negligence
- Negligence is determinated
according to an objective test
- gross negligence manslaughter
- R v Adomako [1994]