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Hi, need to submit a 1500 words essay on the topic Criminal Law.He walks over to Thomas and proceeds to repeatedly punch, kick ans stamp on him shouting Ill teach you a lesson stupid! Later Thomas die
Hi, need to submit a 1500 words essay on the topic Criminal Law.
He walks over to Thomas and proceeds to repeatedly punch, kick ans stamp on him shouting Ill teach you a lesson stupid! Later Thomas dies in hospital of severe head injuries.
The term actus reus refers to the act of the accused which when combined with either intention on the part of the accused or recklessness causes a crime to be committed.
The actus reus for an offence will alter depending on the crime committed. On a charge of murder or manslaughter the actus reus for the offence would be the action that led to the death of the victim. The actus reus is therefore the external element of the crime. The actus reus for an offence is fairly easy to distinguish and in the situation above the punching, kicking and stamping on the victim would be the actus reus of the offence.
Mens rea translates as the ‘guilty mind’. The mens rea element of the offence is the fault element of the crime. As with the actus reus the mens rea for an offence is also specific to the crime committed. The original definition of the mens rea for murder can be found in Coke’s Institutes1 in which Sir Edward Coke stated that murder is
When a man of sound memory and of the age of discretion, unlawfully killeth within any country of the realm any reasonable creature in rerum natura under the Kings Peace, with malice aforethought, so as the party wounded, or hurt…, die of the wound or hurt, … within a year and a day after the same.
From the above it can be observed that the mens rea for the offence requires the accused to demonstrate malice aforethought. Changes through legislation2 and case law3 have aided in the modification of the requirement of malice aforethought4 such that the prosecution is now only under a duty to prove that there was an intention to kill5 or to cause serious bodily harm6. Intention is a subjective test reliant on what the jury considers the defendant would have foreseen as a consequence of his actions. There
