Importance Of Mens Rea In Current Criminal Law
MENS REA
Mens Rea is described as "A guilty mind; a guilty or wrongful purpose; a criminal intent; Guilty knowledge and willfulness". [2]
In criminal law it is the basic principle that a crime consists of a mental element and a physical element. A person's awareness of the fact that his or her conduct is criminal is the mental element, and ‘actus reus' (the act itself) is the physical element.
The concept of Mens Rea started its development in the 1600s in England when judges started to say that an act alone could not create criminality unless it was adjunct with a guilty state of mind. The degree for a particular common law crime varied for Mens Rea. Murder required a malicious state of mind, whereas larceny required a felonious state of mind.
Mens Rea is generally used along with the words general intent, however this creates confusion since general intent is used to describe criminal liability when a defendant does not intend to bring about a particular result. On the other......
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