Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Elements of a crime
- ACTUS REUS
- 'the guilty act'
although can be an
act, a state of
affairs or a failure
to act
- A Failure to Act
- No liability unless
there is a duty to
act
- Parental/Family Duty
- Gibbons and Procter 1918
- Contractual Duty
- Pitwood 1902
- Voluntary
Assumption
of Duty
- Stone and Dobinson 1977
- Creation of a
Dangerous
Situation
- Miller 1983
- Duty of a Public Office
- Dytham 1979
- State of Affairs
- MENS REA
- 'The guilty mind'
- the state of mind
of D at time of
crime. Needed for
all crimes except
strict liability
offences.
- Intent
- Direct
- Also called specific
intent - a decision
to bring about the
consequence even
if the consequence
was not what D
desired.
- Oblique
- Where D may have a
specific purpose and is
prepared to risk a different
consequence to get it.
- Recklessness
- When D knowingly
takes an unjustifiable
risk - knowing harm
could be caused and
proceeding anyway
- Gross Negligence
- Where D's actions went beyond that
of mere compensation and showed
such disregard to the health and
safety of others as to amount to a
crime.
- Transferred Malice
- Where D has committed the actus reus but
the victim differs from the one intended.
Offence must be same for victim as intended
victim.
- CAUSATION
- causation in fact
- prosecution must
show that D's act was
the factual cause of
the consequence
- White 1910
- causation in law
- where there is more than one
cause of the consequence,
prosecution must show that D's
actions were an a substantial
cause
- Cheshire 1991
- Must be a chain of causation linking D's
actions and the consequence. Chain of
causation can be broken by:
- Victim's own actions
- Roberts 1971
- Medical Treatment
- Jordan 1956
- 'Eggshell Skull' Rule
- Blaue 1975
- Any act that breaks
the chain is known
as novus actus
interveniens
- Coincidence of Actus Reus and Mens Rea -
Contemperaneity Rule
- For D to be found guilty it must be shown
that actus reus and mens rea coincided at
some point.
- Continuing Acts
- D is guilty if actus reus and mens
rea are both present at some time in
the chain of events.
- Fagan v MPC 1968
- Chain of Events
- Where the actus reus is a continuing act
and mens rea occurs at some stage.
- Thabo Mali 1954