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General Principles of Criminal Law
1. Introduction:
A criminal offence generally consists of two elements i.e. the mental and physical. The requiste physical and mental elements are expressed by the term Mens Rea and Actus Reus, respectively. Both the components are necessary for the commission of crime. It is said that no crime is committed unless there is a concurrence of guilty act and guilty mind.
2. Basic Maxim:
The important maxim for the determination of criminality of an act or omission is Two important components in the anatomy of crime are as follow:
sion is:
"Actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea." It means that an act does not make a man guilty unless his intentions were so.
3. Two Basic Components Of Crime:
A. Mens Rea: The expression mens rea has often been defined as:
A guuilty mind or an evil intention.
(i) Defined by Justice Cave:
There must be an exxential ingredient in a criminal offence some blame-worthy condition of mind. Sometimes, it is negligence, sometimes malice, sometimes guilty but as a general rule there must be something of that kind, which is disgnated by the expression mens rea.
(ii) In Black's Law Dictionary:
The state of mind that the prosecution, to secure a conviction, must prove that a defendant had while commiting a crime criminal intent or recklessness.
(iii) Term Used by the Court:
According to Kenny the term mens rea has been used by the courts in two different senses:
a. To denote the accused person's attitude of mind to what he was doing, from which can be decided the question whether his conduct was or was not voluntary and,
b. To denote the accused person's foresight of the consquences of what he ws doing.
(iv) Importance of Mens rea:
Supreme court held in a case that mens rea is an essential ingredient of criminal offence. It may, however, be excluded by a statute. It may be excluded from a statute, when it is obvious that enforcement of its object would otherwise be defeated.
B. Acuts Reus:
The word "actus" denotes a deed, a physical result of human conduct and actus Reus has been defined such result of human conduct as the law seeks to prevent.
(i) According to Black's Law Dictionary:
The wrongful deed that comprises the physical components of a crime and that generally must be coupled with mens rea to establish criminal liability a forbidden act.
(ii) As Essential Element:
The actus reus is an essential element of crime. It is said that something in addition to a mens rea is required to produce a criminal harm.
(iii) Constitution of Actus Reus:
The actus reus is constituted by the event and not by the activity which caused that event.
(iv) Elements of Actus Reus:
Following are the essential elements of actus rea:
a. The conduct which is the central feature of the crime.
b. the surrounding circumstances.
c. The consquences.
1. Introduction:
A criminal offence generally consists of two elements i.e. the mental and physical. The requiste physical and mental elements are expressed by the term Mens Rea and Actus Reus, respectively. Both the components are necessary for the commission of crime. It is said that no crime is committed unless there is a concurrence of guilty act and guilty mind.
2. Basic Maxim:
The important maxim for the determination of criminality of an act or omission is Two important components in the anatomy of crime are as follow:
sion is:
"Actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea." It means that an act does not make a man guilty unless his intentions were so.
3. Two Basic Components Of Crime:
A. Mens Rea: The expression mens rea has often been defined as:
A guuilty mind or an evil intention.
(i) Defined by Justice Cave:
There must be an exxential ingredient in a criminal offence some blame-worthy condition of mind. Sometimes, it is negligence, sometimes malice, sometimes guilty but as a general rule there must be something of that kind, which is disgnated by the expression mens rea.
(ii) In Black's Law Dictionary:
The state of mind that the prosecution, to secure a conviction, must prove that a defendant had while commiting a crime criminal intent or recklessness.
(iii) Term Used by the Court:
According to Kenny the term mens rea has been used by the courts in two different senses:
a. To denote the accused person's attitude of mind to what he was doing, from which can be decided the question whether his conduct was or was not voluntary and,
b. To denote the accused person's foresight of the consquences of what he ws doing.
(iv) Importance of Mens rea:
Supreme court held in a case that mens rea is an essential ingredient of criminal offence. It may, however, be excluded by a statute. It may be excluded from a statute, when it is obvious that enforcement of its object would otherwise be defeated.
B. Acuts Reus:
The word "actus" denotes a deed, a physical result of human conduct and actus Reus has been defined such result of human conduct as the law seeks to prevent.
(i) According to Black's Law Dictionary:
The wrongful deed that comprises the physical components of a crime and that generally must be coupled with mens rea to establish criminal liability a forbidden act.
(ii) As Essential Element:
The actus reus is an essential element of crime. It is said that something in addition to a mens rea is required to produce a criminal harm.
(iii) Constitution of Actus Reus:
The actus reus is constituted by the event and not by the activity which caused that event.
(iv) Elements of Actus Reus:
Following are the essential elements of actus rea:
a. The conduct which is the central feature of the crime.
b. the surrounding circumstances.
c. The consquences.