Actus reus and Mens rea Flashcards
Who has the burden of proof?
The prosecution has the legal burden of proof
The prosecution has the evidential burden to provide sufficient evidence
What is the standard of proof?
Beyond reasonable doubt (very high)
What is actus reus?
The guilty conduct, different for every offence
What is the general rule for omissions in criminal law?
The general rule is that there is no criminal liability for omissions
What are the exceptions to the general rule for omissions? (statute)
Statutory offences - Statutes which impose a duty
What are the exceptions to the general rule for omissions? (common law)
Duty arising out of contract
Duty from special relationships
Duty from a voluntary assumption of care
Creation of a dangerous situation - if the defendant does something which endangers the victim and is aware of it they must take reasonable steps to prevent it
What are the elements of causation
Factual and legal causation
general rule - both must be present for causation to be established.
What is factual causation?
The principle that the defendant cannot be considered to be the cause of an event if the event would have occurred in precisely the same way without the defendant’s
act or omission. ‘but for test.’
What is legal causation?
The defendant’s conduct must be a substantial and operating cause of the consequence.
- the result must be due to the defendant’s conduct
- must be more than a minimal cause
- it need not be the sole cause
- the chain of causation must not be broken
What is the egg shell skull rule?
The defendant must take the victim as they find them.
The fact that the victim may have a condition which makes them more susceptible to harm/ behaves in a way which makes them more susceptible will not break the chain of causation.
What is an intervening act?
An act which breaks the chain of causation, three possible ways:
- victim’s acts
- third-party intervention
- intervening events
What is the general rule for intervening acts regarding victim’s acts?
General rule: if the victim does something after the initial act or omission of the
defendant but before the consequence occurs, and it is voluntary, then legal causation will not be established.
What are the exceptions to the general rule of victim’s intervening acts?
Escape cases - if the victim is harmed while trying to escape the victims conduct then the chain will not be broken as it was not voluntary.
The court will consider how foreseeable the victim’s response was.
If the victim’s response was ‘daft’ this will not break the chain
Suicide - in some cases this will not break the chain of causation if it was reasonably foreseeable that the victim would commit suicide as result of the injuries.
What is the general rule for intervening acts regarding intervening events?
A natural event may break the chain of causation with the foreseeability of
the subsequent event being the determining factor for liability.
What is the general rule for intervening acts regarding third-party intervenation
A defendant will not be liable if a third party’s intervening act is either voluntary or is not reasonably foreseeable
The general principle is that only in the most extraordinary and unusual
case would medical treatment break the chain of causation. (must be grossly negligent)
What is mens rea?
Guilty state of mind
What is the test for direct intention?
A subjective test, what this particular defendant saw
or perceived as a result of their actions.
What is direct intention?
A defendant has the direct intent to commit an offence if the consequence, is their aim or purpose.
What is indirect intention?
When the consequences that the defendant achieves by committing the actus
reus are a by-product, so not the principal purpose, of what the defendant was aiming to do.
What is the test for indirect intention?
- Was the consequence virtually certain to occur from the defendant’s act (or omission)? Objective test
- Did the defendant appreciate the consequences were virtually certain to occur? Subjective test
What is recklessness?
The defendant taking an unjustified risk two elements:
- The risk must be an unjustified or unreasonable one to take. (objective)
- The defendant must be aware of the risk and go on to take it. (subjective)
The justification of the risk will be assessed according to the standards of reasonable people
What is the test for criminal negligence?
Where the mens rea only requires negligence, the defendant is judged on an objective standard that can be satisfied even if the defendant is unaware of the risk provided it is an
obvious one.
What is a strict liability offence?
When no mens rea needs to be proved for public policy
How to identify a strict liability offence?
If not stated clearly there is a presumption that there is a mens rea.
It can be rebutted by considering:
- If words suggesting mens rea are used in other sections but not in the section under consideration
- the greater the
social danger an offence is aimed at preventing, the more likely it will be a strict liability offence - Where the behaviour is ‘truly criminal’, the courts are more reluctant to infer strict liability
What is the doctrine of transferred malice?
the defendant has the ‘malice’ to commit a crime against one person, this malice is transferred to
the unintended victim and combines with the actus reus to complete the offence.
What is the limitation of transferred malice?
Transferred malice only applies where the actus reus committed is the same type of crime as the defendant’s mens rea.
What is the rule for continuing acts?
Where an actus reus may be brought about by a continuing act, it is sufficient that the defendant had mens rea during its continuance despite not having the mens rea at its
commencement.
What is the single transaction principle?
Where there is a series of events and, from
the outset, the defendant is involved in criminal activity. Provided the eventual act that causes death is part of the same sequence of events as the initial act, it does not
matter that there is a time lapse between the two.
What are basic intent offences?
Can be committed wither intentionally or recklessly
What are specific intent offences?
Crimes that can only be committed intentionally
What are ulterior intent offences?
Crimes that have a mens rea going beyond the actus reus (an additional mens rea)
