CRIMINOLOGY
Elements of an Offense
Mens Rea – Types
THE EQUATION
For a conviction, the Crown must prove beyond a
reasonable doubt the following
A prohibited act – ACTUS REUS
Criminal intent - MENS REA
ACTUS REUS
•Within the Criminal Code – set by Parliament
•The act OR omission to act
• Deemed sufficiently harmful to warrant state
intervention
ACTUS REUS CON’T
EASY EXAMPLE:
s. 222(1) “a person commits homicide when, directly
or indirectly, by any means, he causes the death of a
human being.”
What’s the Actus Reus??
ACTUS REUS CON’T
DIFFICULT EXAMPLE:
s. 90(1) “Every person commits an offence who carries
a weapon…concealed, unless the person is authorized
under the Firearms Act to carry it concealed.”
What’s the Actus Reus??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6oEwEtvYt8&feature=relmfu
ACTUS REUS CON’T
What questions must we determine when
interpreting this specific law???
What are the answers and where can we find them??
MENS REA
•Mental element that accompanies actus reus
•Actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea – an act does
not become guilty unless the mind is guilty
•‘Guilty mind’
•In the Criminal Code both literally & contextually
WAYS TO HAVE MENS REA
•General & Specific Intent
•Intent, Motive & Doctrine of Transferred Intent
•Knowledge
•Recklessness
•Wilful Blindness
GENERAL & SPECIFIC
INTENT
GENERAL INTENT – most crimes require this,
simply the concept that you meant to commit the
crime.
If I throw a rock at my neighbor’s head and it hits
her, what’s required for general intent?
SPECIFIC INTENT – intent in addition to general
for a ‘specific’ purpose
How can we change the previous example to create a
Specific Intent situation?
INTENT, MOTIVE,
DOCTRINE OF TRANSFERRED
INTENT
•Intent & Motive are NOT the same
•Use Robert Latimer as an example………
•Transferred intent…my buddies idiot
brother
KNOWLEDGE
•Usually present in the Criminal Code wording
•s.251 (1) Everyone who knowingly
(b) sends an aircraft on a flight or operates an
aircraft that is not fit and safe for flight…
is guilty of an indictable offence…
RECKLESSNESS
•Extremely careless or heedless of apparent danger
•Must show that the accused was aware of the
danger involved
The Ron Artest Elbow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86pxEMPfKII
WILFUL BLINDNESS
•Alike to recklessness but more complex
•When someone suspects a harmful or criminal
outcome but prefers not to ask the questions that
would confirm their suspicions.
R. v. Blondin [Drug Smuggling]
WHEN YOU MENS REA
ISN’T REQUIRED
•Regulatory offences (Traffic Violations, Pollution
Offences…)
•Crown now needs only prove absolute or strict
liability
ABSOLUTE LIABILITY
•Legal Formalism at its best!!!
•Most commonly used for speeding offences
•Mens Rea 100% irrelevant
•Was only sort of liability until 1978 – Supreme Court
of Canada deemed it unfair in certain
situations……enter ‘strict’ liability
STRICT LIABILITY
•Guilt based on actus reus AND inability to prove
DUE DILIGENCE
DUE DILIGENCE – attempt to take all reasonable
care possible to avoid the guilty act
•Very common in environmental & construction cases
Must do everything possible
to ensure a crime doesn’t
take place
MENS REA QUIZ
Company X commits a guilty act and the Crown can
prove it. What is required of the Crown to convict
them in this case if it fell under:
Regular Mens Rea –
Absolute Liability –
Strict Liability -
PRACTICAL APPLICATION
•Pg. 251 in your textbooks
Due Diligence and Environmental Contamination