Chapter 6 Vocab Flashcards
abetting
It is the crime of encouraging the perpetrator to commit a crime without providing physical assistance. For example, if someone is present at a physical assault and encourages the beating but does not participate, this individual can be considered partly responsible for the crime through abetting. One is not criminally responsible for abetting just because he/she knows of the crime or is there at the scene. One must be aware that an illegal action was intended and must have committed some action that helped the perpetrator. However, presence at the time the offence happened can be used as evidence with abetting if this is accompanied with other factors, namely prior knowledge of the perpetrator’s intention to commit the offence.
absolute liability offences
These are offences that do not need mens rea and to which the accused can offer no defence. The court must find the accused guilty. Examples of these offences include driving without a licence or going over the speed limit. Since offenders can offer no defence to such a charge once facts have been reviewed, the Supreme Court has established that they cannot be sentenced to jail for these illegal actions. The main penalty is usually a fine.
accessory after the fact
It is one who “knowingly receives, comforts, or helps a perpetrator escape from the police.” For example, a perpetrator caught shoplifting was injured after fighting with a security guard. She arrives at her friend’s apartment and her friend lets her stay there and provides her with food, clothing and first aid. The friend who helped her is then charged with being an accessory after the fact as she helped her perpetrator friend, knowing she had committed a crime.
actus reus
Actus reus means “the guilty act” which signifies a voluntary physical action (e.g., hitting someone during an argument), omission (e.g., starving a child to death), or current state of being (e.g., possession of breaking and entering tools, stolen goods or child pornography) that is prohibited by Canadian law. The Criminal Code of Canada clearly defines these prohibited acts, so citizens understand what is considered unjust in society. Criminal actions must be completed to be considered an offence. For example, if you thought of striking someone but the person saw you were angry and ran away, you would not be guilty of assault. Actus reus must be voluntary, not forced upon you by another person.
aiding
In criminal law, aiding is the crime of helping a perpetrator commit a crime. To help a perpetrator, one does not have to be there when the crime is actually committed. Such individuals are known as parties to an offence. For example, if someone provides a key to the perpetrator to break into a store but does not physically participate in the actual robbery, the individual can still be considered partly responsible for the crime.
attempt
Attempt is where one intends to commit an illegal action/crime (mens rea) but the guilty action (actus reus) is never completed. An attempt, although not requiring actus reus, still includes the idea that the guilty act begins the moment preparation turns into an action required to carry out the crime. Mens rea can also be established as happening at the start of an illegal action. To prove someone guilty of a criminal attempt, the Crown must show that the accused had the necessary intent and took steps towards carrying out the crime. For example, if someone builds a bomb but then does not carry out the bombing, they can be charged with attempt.
conspiracy
Conspiracy is an agreement between two or more people to commit a crime (unlike attempt), even if the action does not actually happen. Even if the perpetrators change their minds or do not carry out the action, they can still be found criminally responsible for conspiracy as they once intended to commit the crime. For example, if someone conspires with another or a group to carry out a bombing but never create the bomb, they can still be charged with conspiracy.
counselling
This is the crime that consists of advising, recommending, or persuading someone to carry out a criminal offence. One who counsels does not have to be at the crime scene to be found guilty. For example, someone commits the illegal action/crime of counselling an individual to steal when she persuades that individual to steal from the store where she herself works and instructs on the best method to carry out the crime successfully.
crime
It is “an act or omission of an act that is is prohibited and punishable by federal statute.” “Omission of an act” means that some crimes are not acts but are the failure to act in some situations. For example, a witness who does not act to stop a crime, or someone who fails to stay at the scene of a crime or a motor vehicle accident that they were involved in, can be charged with a criminal offence. There are four conditions necessary to be considered a crime. 1. the act is considered wrong by society 2. the act causes harm to society in general or to those who need protection 3. the harm must be serious 4. the remedy must be handled by criminal justice system
criminal law
It is the set of laws that “prohibit and punish acts that injure individual people, property, and society as a whole.” The main goals of criminal law are as follows: to protect people and property; to maintain order; and to preserve standards of public decency.
criminal negligence
It is the wanton or reckless disregard for the lives and safety of others, at times causing serious injury or death. The Crown can establish mens rea (“the guilty mind”) by showing that the person charged showed “wanton or reckless disregard.” Everyone is criminally negligent who “in doing anything or in omitting to do anything that it is his duty to do, shows a wanton or reckless disregard for the lives or safety of others.” For example, Walkerton water contamination with E.coli where employees of the water treatment facility failed to take action resulting with many becoming sick, or when a parent leaves a loaded gun lying around the house where his child could find it and the child then accidentally shoot someone. Being charged with criminal negligence means that the common sense, careful precautions that anyone else would have undertaken to prevent causing harm to another person, have not been carried out.
due diligence
It is the defence that the person charged took every reasonable precaution to prevent a crime from being committed. Due diligence is often used to defend the accused from a strict liability offence where mens rea is not required. These offences often arise in regulatory law where federal and provincial statues are created to protect the public. For example, if a company takes precautions against environmental pollution, but then ends up polluting a river during heavy rains, the defence can plead due diligence and be found innocent.
general intent
It is the desire to perpetrate an illegal action, with no other additional motive or purpose. For example, when someone hits another person because he is angry with him and wants to display his anger physically, then he has the general intent to commit assault. The Crown only has to prove that the individual hit the other person to establish mens rea (“guilty action”).
intent
It refers to the state of mind of someone who desires to commit an illegal action, knows what the outcome will be, and is reckless regarding the consequences. The Criminal Code most often uses words such as willfully and intentionally to signify intent. For example, assault is defined under s. 265 (1)(a) as “applies force intentionally.” The word “intentionally” implies the mens rea for the crime of assault.
knowledge
This is an awareness of specific facts that can be used to establish mens rea. For example, if someone knows a document or money is forged, and then uses, deals, or acts upon it, then this individual is guilty of the crime of circulating a forged document or money. The Crown has to establish the fact that the person charged knew the document was forged. Establishing this fact would therefore establish mens rea.
