Actus Reus

Question 1

What is included in the elements of an offence?

Answer 1

act, omissions, voluntariness, circumstances, consequences

Question 2

What does actus reus mean?

Answer 2

The Guilty Act; the physical elements of the offence

Question 3

Technical Requirements for conviction?

Answer 3

Age Restriction under section 13 (age of 12 and only applies to their calendar mind, and not mental mind)

Territorial restrictions (section 6); has to be committed within Canada aside from a few exceptions

Question 4

What are the judges’ role in determining actus reus?

Answer 4

Whilst most of them are codified, those that aren’t are interpreted, read into and decided by judges

Question 5

What are the four steps to determining elements of an offence?

Answer 5

1. Check the Criminal Code
2. Search and Define
3. Read-in caselaws with judge elements
4. Read-in caselaws for judicial interpretations of the language in the provision

Question 6

Sexual Assault History

Answer 6

Codified to replace outdated laws that lacked precision, showing dated language and incorrect assumption.

New actus reus for sexual assault includes:

(a) without the consent of another person, he applies force intentionally to that other person, directly or indirectly;
(b) he attempts or threatens, by an act or a gesture, to apply force to another person, if he has, or causes that other person to believe on reasonable grounds that he has, present ability to effect his purpose; or
(c) while openly wearing or carrying a weapon or an imitation thereof, he accosts or impedes another person or begs.

Question 7

R v chase

Answer 7

Case law that sets the actus reus, or at least attempts to set the actus reus for sexual assault

+ it does not depend solely on contact on specific areas and can be perpetrated by people of the same sex too

+ committed within circumstances of a sexual nature, such that the sexual integrity of the victim is violated

Question 8

R V Toews

Answer 8

Case law that defines the actus reus for care and control of a vehicle

+ the act of assumption of care or control when the voluntary consumption of alcohol or a drug has impaired the ability to drive

+ he was not convicted because he was physically not in the driver’s seat; he had a sleeping bag; keys were in ignition BUT there was no evidence that he placed it in

Question 9

Omissions

Answer 9

A failure to act which attaches criminal responsibility to actions not taken;

+ the offence must contemplate guilt for omissions
+ the accused must be placed under a legal duty to act
+ the omission must be a FAILURE to FULFILL that legal duty

Question 10

R v Peterson

Answer 10

Duty of care and responsibility; relationship between two people can determine Actus Reus.

+ case details: Dennis Peterson failed to care for his father Arnold Peterson and was convicted of failing in his duty to provide his father with necessaries of life, and thereby endangered his life.

Question 11

Duty of act can be imposed on individuals by court

Answer 11

Court orders, compliance to bail conditions, and compliance with probation

Question 12

Difference between prohibitions and omissions

Answer 12

omissions include an imposition of duties to do certain things

prohibition prohibits certain things

Question 13

Voluntariness (willed act)

Answer 13

The convicted must be/have:

Conscious
Operating Mind
Capable of making decisions

Question 14

Mens Reus and Actus Reus in terms of Voluntariness

Answer 14

Canadian law has also accepted that unless a physical motion is willful, it is not fair to call it an act of the accused person.

+ you need a willing mind to be guilty of performing a criminal act

Question 15

R v Swaby

Answer 15

Case law that dictates the coincidence of occupancy and the extent of knowledge required to deem something voluntary

criminal liability cannot be attached when it isn’t voluntary; there must be an afforded time for the person to comprehend the knowledge to make it voluntary and to make do with the situation

+ passenger had a firearm with him that the driver didn’t know until after a while

+ he didn’t voluntarily stay in the car with a firearm because he didn’t know there WAS a firearm

Question 16

Automatism

Answer 16

A set of brief unconscious behaviors; voluntariness is deemed a basis for the defence using automatism

The law should punish acts done by responsible moral agents; if they were unconscious whilst they committed the crime, they will not be convicted

+ R v Parks (1992) used a similar defence

Question 17

What does consequences not mean?

Answer 17

it DOES NOT mean the punishment

Question 18

Consequences

Answer 18

The consequences of accused actions (e.g. consequence of manslaughter is death of another person)

+ not all offences include consequences as part of actus reus; some don’t mention it

Question 19

Causation

Answer 19

When the actus reus includes a consequence, it becomes necessary to determine whether the accused’s actions actually caused the prohibited consequence

This creates a chain of causation that can only be broken using an intervening act!

The accused’s acts don’t have to be the only cause of the consequence

Question 20

Intervening Act

Answer 20

An intervening act can break the chain of causation but it has to

1. be independent of the accused’s actions
2. Reasonably foreseeable from the accused’s actions

+ there are clauses that prevents certain intervening acts from breaking the chain (e.g. mediacl aid administered in good faith)

Question 21

De Minimus Range

Answer 21

The minimal range; trivial factors that courts can overlook

Question 22

R v Smithers

Answer 22

Case law that decided that the accused’s action need not be the only cause of death, and that it must be a significant contributing cause.

You must be responsible for your actions even if the consequences turn out to be worse than expected

Question 23

R v Blaue

Answer 23

Case law that decided that the victim’s choice to not prevent death does not break the chain of causation

Just because the victim refused to receive medical aid doesn’t mean Blaue was absolved of his blame.

Question 24

Circumstances

Answer 24

the prohibited action must be committed under certain circumstances to form actus reus (e.g. absence of consent)

Question 25

Consent

Answer 25

a) The application of force to the complainant or to a person other than the complainant;
b) Threats or fear of the application of force to the complainant or to a person other than the complainant;
c) Fraud; or
d) The exercise of authority.

Question 26

R v Ewanchuk

Answer 26

Case law and establisehd that implied consent was not a thing; clear and explicit consent must be given, and the absence of no does not constitute consent

Question 27

Capacity of Consent

Answer 27

The legal limit or requirement for consent; not everyone has the capacity to consent to certain activities

There are also circumstances where consent will not be valid

In effect, there are actions to which no one has the legal capacity to consent.

+e.g. age of consent

Question 28

R v Jobidon

Answer 28

Case law that dictates that an individual cannot consent to assault that causes “serious hurt or non-trivial bodily harm”

+ reasons for this decision: there are policy considerations related to protecting the santity of the human body and to prevent the development of sadism

Question 29

R v J.A.

Answer 29

Case law that establishes consent must be on-going; for consent to be valid, individual must have the ability to give, revoke or withhold consent

+ case detail: consented to choking until unconscious, but activity during the time she was unconscious was not consented