Mens rea: intention, recklessness, knowledge Flashcards
what is mens Rea?
Mens rea denotes the mental element of an offence, referred to colloquially as a “guilty
mind”.
what is the spectrum of criminal intent?
The spectrum of criminal intent ranges from recklessness to intent, which is the strongest form of mens rea
what is a subjective mens rea?
A subjective mens rea is one which the Accused actually holds in his head
what is an objective mens rea?
an objective mens rea is a standard which the law imposes on him/here, which he is required to meet whether he actually thinks of it or not.
what is intention?
intention involves desiring a certain result and setting towards bringing it about.
what is oblique intent?
“oblique intent” to cover less black-and-white situations where, even though it is not the Accused’s aim to bring about a certain result, that result was a natural and foreseeable consequence of his/her actions.
explain the facts of Hyam v DPP
a woman burned down her neighbour’s house killing two
occupants. She said her intention was merely to scare them but obviously the natural consequence of burning down a house is to kill anyone inside, therefore the House of Lords held that she intended to kill the occupants.
what was established in the case of DPP v Douglas
Unless the accused has actually expressed an intention, his intention can only be ascertained from his actions and surrounding circumstances
what are the facts of DPP v Hull?
The accused was deemed to have intended the natural consequences of his actions in shooting through a closed door and “accidentally” killing someone. Nonetheless, it confirmed that this was only a presumption and as such could be rebutted
what are the two questions the court identified in R v Moloney to determine whether intent could be inferred or not?
(a) was the particular consequence which must be proved to have been intended a natural consequence of the Defendant’s voluntary act?
(b) Did the Defendant foresee that consequence as being a natural consequence of his act?
If the answer to both these questions was yes, the jury could draw the inference that the Accused intended the consequences of his/her actions.
The law reform commission enactment in respect of when is a result intended
“A result is intended if:
(i) It is the Defendant’s conscious object or purpose to cause it, or
(ii) He is aware that it is virtual/it certain that his conduct will cause it, or would be virtually certain to cause it if he were to succeed in his purpose of causing some other result.”
explain transferred intent
If someone intends to harm to one person; and instead harms another, he/she will still have requisite mens rea under the doctrine of transferred intent.
The intent must, however, be for the same crime.
define recklessness
Recklessness is gross carelessness. It is carelessness beyond the civil standard of negligence
(or even criminal negligence). It involves the taking of an unjustified risk.
what is subjective and objective recklessness
Subjective recklessness requires that the Accused actually be aware of the risk, objective recklessness is established where a risk exists which the Reasonable Man have been aware of;
irrelevant of whether or not the Accused actually adverted to it.
what was established in the case of R v. Caldwell?
Lord diplock stated that He is reckless where he does an act that creates an obvious risk and he either knows and takes the risk, or fails to give any thought to the risk. Thus if there is an obvious risk, he is guilty.
