So what is Actus Reus? Actus Reus is the conduct of the accused (The defendant). It can be an act of commission or act of omission‚ and it must be a voluntary act that causes the damage or harm. It can also be a "state of affairs". * Commission or act of Omission: A person may incur criminal liability for failing to do that which the law requires him to do as much as by doing that which the law prohibits. The actus reus includes the state of affairs or circumstances surrounding the commission
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Criminal Liability Actus reus The actus reus of a crime is the voluntary‚ deliberate act of the defendant. seen in the case of Hill v baxter 1958- in this case the court gave examples in a situation where a driver of a car would not be driving voluntary e.g. being stung by a bee and being hit on the head by a stone. The actus reus is any act of the defendant that is unlawful and has the consequence of causing injury to the victim that the law classifies as a wound or grevious bodily harm
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Actus Reus The physical element of a crime: o An act o An omission (failure to act) o A ‘state of affairs’ Conduct‚ consequence‚ circumstances. To complete an offence‚ mens rea is also needed. Strict liability offences do not require mens rea. A ‘state of affairs’ is an involuntary act: o Larsonneur 1933- D ordered to leave UK; brought back to UK against her will but Irish police. Convicted‚ despite involuntary act. Actus reus must be proved: o R v Deller 1916- D thought he’d mortgaged car‚ and
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THE FACULTY OF LAW CRIMINAL LAW I UNIT 4 ACTUS *REUS INTRODUCTION The cardinal doctrine of English Law is that an Act does not of itself constitute guilt unless the mind is guilty – Actus non facit recum nisi mens sit rea. The maxim draws attention to the 2 essential elements of a crime which are: ( 1) The physical element or the _actus _reus – the so – called “condition of illegality “ (2) The mental element or the mens rea – the “condition of the mind “ The general
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Actus Reus AR = the conduct element. Prescribes what needs to be done‚ in what circumstance and with what result (but not necessarily all three). Result: V is killed (note that we don’t really criminalise results in themselves‚ but rather the causation of results). Conduct: in rape: penetration. Circumstance: property belongs to another. All crimes have an AR. It is possible to have missing MR elements but this is not so for AR. Omissions Stephen LJ: “It is not a crime to cause death or injury
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In its most basic terms‚ a crime occurs when someone carries out a wrongful act (i.e. the actus reus) at the same time as having a wrongful state of mind (i.e. the mens rea). The basic equation can be stated as: Actus Reus + Mens Rea = crime. The behavioural and mental elements of the crime must happen at the same time. There cannot be a gap between the two. For example‚ at the time the accused caused a death of the victim‚ he surely intended to or wanted to kill that person. In this essay‚ I will
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ACTUS REUS: OMISSION & CAUSATION The general basis for imposing liability in criminal law is that the defendant must be proved to have committed a guilty act whilst having had a guilty state of mind. The physical elements are collectively called the actus reus and the accompanied mental state is called the mens rea. It is the fundamental duty of the prosecution to prove both of these elements of the offence to the satisfaction of the judge or jury beyond reasonable doubt. In the absence
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Angus can be charged with constructive murder of Chris under section 3A (1) of the Crimes Act 1958 ‚ but the prosecution must prove all the elements of the offence beyond a reasonable doubt. ACTUS REUS The actus reus requirement for murder is that Angus caused the death of a human being and that his actions were voluntary. Chris‚ a human being‚ was an innocent customer who entered the service station and was struck by a bullet from the gun which Angus was holding; he dies as a result of this strike
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AR Problem Question This problem question includes the following areas of law: - Actus Reus (Guilty Act) - Omissions (Failure to Act) - Duty to Act Situations Wood - Actus Reus = Guilty Act. To be criminally liable‚ the defendant (D) must perform a positive and voluntary act. An Omission (Failure to Act) does not make D liable‚ however‚ there are 6 situations in which failure to act may result in criminal responsibility: 1. Statute 2. Contract 3. Relationship 4. Voluntary Assumption 5
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Actus Reus means ‘guilty act’. This may be established through a Positive Voluntary Act. This was demonstrated in R v McPherson where the positive voluntary act of taking whiskey amounted to the Actus Reus of theft. In relation to omissions‚ Stephens J stated‚ “If A sees B drowning and can save him by holding out his hand. A abstains from doing so in order that B may be drowned. A has committed no offence.” The first duty situation is where D has a contractual duty. This was demonstrated in R v
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