Mens rea Essays

The mens rea is the mental element of an offence. It refers to the mental state of the accused in terms of the offence. If no mens rea is present the accused cannot be convicted with the exception of absolute or strict liability. In order for a person to be guilty of a specific crime it is expected that the defendant has the necessary mens rea.(4) ‘Intention means the conscious objective or purpose of the accused.’(1) Intention is not the same as motive or desire to achieve a particular result.

Mens rea is the element of a crime which alludes to what is known as the “guilty mind”. The case of R v Mohan [1976] QB 1 , the case dealing with the meaning of intention in the context of the offence of murder, James LJ clarified that intention meant ‘aim’ or ‘a decision to bring about a certain consequence’ whilst mens rea is generally related with motive what it more directly links to the notion of intention. There are two types of intention, direct intention and oblique intention .Oblique intention

Mens Rea is the Latin word for a ‘guilty mind’ (Latin dictionary reference?). In the English Law it can be defined as ‘the intention or knowledge of wrongdoing that constitutes part of a crime, as opposed to the action or conduct of the accused’ (oxford dictionary reference) known as the Actus Reus of an offence. Mens rea is made up of four fault elements: Intention, Knowledge, Recklessness and Negligence. Establishing which category of Mens Rea an offence falls under is important in many cases where

prosecution to prove mens rea on the part of the accused, in doing so as to demonstrate intent, recklessness or knowledge on their part unless the crime is one of strict liability. The three types of mens rea which the courts take into consideration are set out as follows; Intent refers to the state of mind accompanying an act especially a forbidden act. It is the outline of the mental pattern which is necessary to do the crime. At times criminal intent is used in the sense of mens rea-the mental element

proceedings. In any offences, the accused should be proven on whether he has physically done the act (actus reus) or that the act has casued the offending consequences. Secondly, the accused should be assessed on whether he/she has intention to do it (mens rea). Three other forms of intent that needed to be taken into considerations are: Recklessness, Negligence and Accident. Recklessness is defined as the deliberate taking of an unjustifiable risk. A man is reckless with respect to the consequences of

Introduction First of all, a defendant will only be found guilty of a crime if the prosecution can establish two main elements of a crime, which are actus reus and the mens rea. Actus reus is the wrongful act or omission that comprises the physical component of a crime. Mens rea is a person’s awareness of the fact that his or her conduct is criminal. For a defendant to be held liable, it has to be proved that the defendant voluntarily performed the act or omission. In Hill v Baxter , it was established

The case at hand is a very unfortunate circumstance because although Pluto did experience minor fainting spells in the past, I do not think that Pluto knew how serious the fainting spells were therefore I think that he should be charged with causing death and bodily harm, however, I do not think that Pluto should get the full sentences associated with the crime. Linden R., (2016) states that if a person knows they are liable to experience sudden fainting spells and continued to drive a motor vehicle

on to secure a conviction, the prosecution must prove beyond doubt that the accused not only committed the particular offense (actus reus) but also that the crime was committed with the sole intention of committing the crime (the defendant had the mens rea when committing the crime. (Karlen H. Peter

Mens Rea What is mens rea? Mens rea is the Latin words for criminal intent. In the criminal justice field, this phrase is very important. It is a big deal because for a crime to be committed there has to be the criminal intent by the person accused of the crime. In the case I will discuss today the issue is whether the person in this case Maria, had the criminal intent or not. Maria was in Mexico when she was approached by a woman who offered her one thousand dollars to cross a car over to the United

Necrophilia is described as a person having sexual feelings or performing activities that involve a corpse. Miss Emily Grierson, the protagonist in William Faulkner’s short retrospective Gothic “A Rose for Emily,” is a necrophiliac. In this Gothic work, Faulkner illustrates how isolation from society can drive someone to commit grotesque acts. Faulkner expands on the theme of loneliness in his Gothic, “A Rose for Emily,” through the interactions Emily has with the townsmen, the death of Emily’s father

According to Criminal Law and Procedure, mens rea is defined as the mental capacity a person has, and the liability or responsibility deemed by the person that commits a crime based on the criminal mindset that influences the criminal act (Hall, 2015). The term mens rea can be interpreted differently as discussed in the reading material provided and is known as a guilty mind. "It is best defined as the state of mind required to be criminally liable for a certain act", (Hall, 2015, p. 57).  One of

Many girls dream of their knight in shining armor, a perfect wedding, and a happily ever after ending. Disney princesses give them hope to find love and happiness along with emphasizing their want for the beauty and grace princesses illustrate. Authors of “Cinderella and Princess Culture” and “The Princess Paradox,” Peggy Orenstein and James Poniewozik respectively, agree that most girls like princesses. However, these articles convey differing parental opinions on lessons girls learn from princesses

Both The Lion King and the play Hamlet, are extremely popular and successful among society. In theory, people believe that both these works portray many similarities, allowing them to make the claim that The Lion King is based off Hamlet. Although, upon taking a deeper look at more than just the plot, it seems that this may not be the case. Many of the characters in both The Lion King and the play Hamlet do not share the same motives for their actions. The characters in Hamlet are more further developed

“In a social jungle of human existence, there is no feeling of being alive without a sense of identity.” said Erik Erikson, a psychologist known for his theory on the psychosocial development of humans. Reef Kennedy is a trouble-making orphan who hangs out with his friends, Bigger and Jink, vandalizing buildings and getting in trouble with the law. A ruined childhood from losing his parents and grandparents puts Reef in a hopeless position that he will have to dig himself out of and find his true

Things fall apart is a tragedy novel written by Chinua Achebe. Okonkwo, who is the protagonist of the novel and one of the most powerful men in the Ibo tribe often resorts to violence to make his points understood. Down in his heart, Okonkwo is not a cruel man, but his life is dominated by his internal conflict, the fear of failure and of weakness. He hated his father, Unoka, because he was a lazy debtor. Okonkwo made it a point in his life to set himself apart from his father by being well known

Women through history struggled to fit in a life were men have the most important roles and the whole world in their hands. The battle for a woman to be seen as a person in her own privilege, characterized her own terms, by her own judgment and achievements, wishing the same open doors as men have and practice. There is no role for women in the society back then even in marriage, she can’t choose whom to marry, and basically women role is forgotten in the society at the Restoration era. So in this

Insanity in MacBeth Insanity is seen everywhere. It is seen in life and even books and plays like MacBeth. MacBeth is play written by William Shakespeare based in Scotland about a man named MacBeth who wants to become King and will do anything to become it. His wife Lady MacBeth and himself become so obsessed with they go insane in their own ways about it. Although they both go insane they differ in that MacBeth goes insane over his desire of being and what he does as King while Lady MacBeth goes

However, it has been used in different ways to express different feelings in different situations. In Julia Serano’s article, “Why Nice Guys Finish Last,” people are divided into two broad categories: nice guys and assholes. “‘Assholes’ are men who fulfill the men-as-sexual-aggressors stereotype; ‘nice guys’ are the one who refuse or eschew it” (Serano 418). She further describes the nice guys as virgins and assholes as whores. That is a general start to classifying a person, but it does not encompass

the course of history, the righteous identity of masculinity has been tainted by the stereotypical profile that is governed by machoism. These stereotypes eliminate any emotions, activities, and beliefs that exhibit weakness. These stereotypes cause men to seek unrelenting physical strength, a mind of iron, and isolation. However, these are only stereotypes; a man is something much more than attempting to live their life as a masquerade. A perfect example of a man following this mockery of masculinity

Sun Also Rises how most of the men in the novel are going to the end of their lives in almost the same manner, but they have also done little things that distinguish big differences in the ways they have lives. Most of these differences are either reinstating their masculinity to others or trying to take another man’s away. In the The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway shows masculinity through the underlying competition between Jake Barnes and his friends. The men in Ernest Hemingway’s novel were