Actus reus

liable for a crime; a voluntary act is also required. Lord Denning explained: ‘the requirement that it should be a voluntary act is essential ... in every criminal case. No act is punishable if it is done involuntarily.’ If the mens rea and the actus reus of a crime are not proved, the defendant is said to be acting as an automaton, a person that…

This essay about the case of Baig v Harvie [2015]. The case concerns an appeal from a man who was previously convicted under section 38 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 for abusive and threatening behaviour directed towards two parking attendants. The appellant’s appeal centres on the fact that his improper conduct was only verbal and that he had not been proven to have caused fear or alarm to the attendants. This essay will explain the terms of section 38, how…

In my opinion, I don’t believe that drug use, prostitution, or gambling fits the seven elements of crime except for legality and punishment. As I read the definition for each of the seven elements of the crime, I compared each to drug use, prostitution, and gambling. However, first for you to understand and for me explain my stance, you should know the legal definition of the crime. The legal definition is the “Intentional violation of Criminal Law, committed without defense or excuse and…

Punishment for criminal offences is a practice that had been present since the inception of human civilizations across the globe. In ancient times too, people were convicted and punished for committing crimes which encompassed heinous crimes like murder. Though the modes of punishments varied from what are present today, different forms of retribution were thoroughly present in those ancient civilizations. But it must be noted that the entire criminal justice system, today, has changed, and to…

and left him near the shore of the beach, it led the victim to drown. It is established in R v Hallett, the act must substantially and contribute to the death of the victim. The Chain of Causation remained stable as there were no occurring novus actus interveniens (intervening act/event) which caused the casual chain between the accused and death of Velma Victim to break. Donny Doer’s punch and the impact from it contributed significantly to the death of Velma Victim. Legal causation exists if…

his stomach with rocks to drown him in water (Torture, 269). The goat mother intentionally left her seven children alone at their house, even though they were all young and the environment was unsafe. Since the mother left the house, that was the actus reus. The goat mother warned the kids about the wolf, saying that they would not be able to defend themselves if he entered their home “Be on your guard for the wolf. If he gets in, he will eat up all of…

before or at the time of doing so, and in order to do so, he uses force on any person or puts or seeks to put any person in fear of being then and there subjected to force, as stated under section 8 (1) of the Theft Act 1968. The defendant had actus reus as he used force at the time of stealing the wallet which could have subjected the victim to fear. As well as this he had mens rea as he intended to use this threat of force in order to commit the crime. Although ‘force’ is not defined in the…

From the very beginning of this move during the initial investigation of the crime scene, which is when detectives arrive on scene to try and piece together what happened, I can already see that the detectives are not following proper procedure in handling evidence. When evidence is collected at a crime scene; protocol says it should be handled with gloves to prevent contamination and preserved in plastic bags that are supplied by the department to start the chain of custody. “The use of latex…

What seems to fascinate and appall us at the same time is what we hear and read from literature, newspapers, and television programs about criminal law issues. However, when we come into focus in real-life issues we will realize how disparate it is from what we hear. Crime and criminal law constitute universal topics in our society. It is a body of rules by which the country forbids certain forms of conduct that case harms or threatens the public safety and welfare. What discriminates criminal…

criminal code, section 231 (1). Douglas Garland can get up to 75 years in prison. The actus reus in this case was the fact that 3 people are dead, the mens rea was to kill the 3 people and there was blood and distress…