Law 120 – Intro Unit

The Elements of a Crime

Two conditions must exist for an act to be a criminal offence: actus reus and mens rea. In Latin, actus reus means “wrongful deed.” It must be show that the person committed the act prohibited by law.

Mens rea means “guilty mind.” It must also be shown that the accused intended to commit the offence.

These two conditions must exist at the same time.

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedomsstates that an individual is innocent untilproven guilty. The Crown attorney must provethat actus reus and mens rea existed at thetime the crime was committed.

These conditions must be proven beyond areasonable doubt. If there is a reasonabledoubt in the mind of the judge or jury that theaccused committed the crime, the accused willbe acquitted and set free.

Actus Reus

The Criminal Code explains what must occurfor an act to be considered a crime. The ActusReus is the physical act of the crime.

Mens Rea

Mens Rea is the second condition that mustexist for an act to be considered a crime. Thiscondition is the mental part of a crime. Mensrea exists if the offence is committed withintent or knowledge.

1) Intent – the true purpose of the act. It is based onthe facts and on what a reasonable person would bethinking under the circumstances. Intent can be either general or specific

A general intent to perform an action means that theintent is limited to the act itself and the person has noother criminal purpose in mind.

Specific Intent exists when the person committing theoffence has a further criminal purpose in mind.

The law considers some people to be incapable offorming the intent necessary to commit a crime. I.E.Mental illness, minors, people extremely under theinfluence of drugs/alcohol

2) Knowledge – knowing certain facts can also provide thenecessary mens rea. For example, any person who uses acredit card knowing that it has been revoked or cancelled isguilty of an indictable offence. Here the Crown only has toprove the individual used the card knowing that it had beencancelled.

MotiveThe reason for committing an offence is called the motive.

Motive is not the same as intent, and it does not establish theguilt of the accused. A person can have a motive and notcommit the offence.

Motive may be used as circumstantial evidence –indirectevidence that would lead you to conclude that someone isguilty. However, the elements of the crime must be proven toobtain the conviction. The judge may also refer to the motivefor an offence during sentencing.

RecklessnessThe careless disregard for the possible results of an

action. When people commit acts with recklessness, they may not intend to hurt anyone. However, they understand the risks of their actions and proceed to act anyway.

i.e. Driving over the speed limit, cutting people off in traffic could result in criminal charges if injury occurs as a result of these actions. Mens Rea would exist if such recklessness were proven.

the person committed the actus reus, he or she is guilty, no matter what precautions were taken to avoid committing the offence.

Offences without Mens Rea

Some offences are less serious that those found in the CriminalCode. To prove that these offences occurred, it is notnecessary to prove mens rea.

These offences are usually violations of federal or provincialregulations passed to protect the public. Speeding, “short-weighting” a package of food, and polluting the environmentare all examples of regulatory offences.

Regulatory offences also carry lesser penalties. As a result,they do not carry the stigma attached with a criminalconviction.

There are two types of regulatory offences:strict liability offences and absolute liabilityoffences.

To prove a strict liability offence, it is onlynecessary to prove that the offence wascommitted. The accused can put forward thedefence of due diligence, which means that theaccused took reasonable care not to committhe offence or honestly believed in a mistakenset of facts.

Absolute liability offences are similar to strict liabilityoffences in that the Crown does not have to provemens rea.

However, absolute liability offences have no possibledefence –due diligence is not accepted as a defencefor committing such offences.

If the person committed the actus reus, he or she isguilty, no matter what precautions were taken toavoid committing the offence.

Assignment:

Pg.143-152

Father Jailed p.146 #1-4

R v. Hebert p.148 #1-2

R. v. Adey p. 149 #2

BYU p. 152 #1-5