Mens Rea (Paper 1) Flashcards
What is meant by mens rea
‘Guilty mind,’ all the mental elements of a crime
The two types of mens rea
Intention and recklessness
The two types of intention
Direct and indirect
The meaning of direct intention
Where it is obvious that D intended the outcome. It is D’s aim, purpose, and desire to bring about the result (Mohan)
The meaning of indirect intention
Where it is not so obvious that D intended the outcome
The virtual certainty test
Established in Woolin and asks: was death or serious injury a virtual certainty? (objective) and did D realise this? (subjective)
The meaning of recklessness
Where D sees an unjustified risk, but takes the risk anyway. This is subjective and D must see the risk themselves (Cunningham). Subjective test was confirmed in R v G & R
Transferred malice
The principle that intention can be transferred to one victim to another, so intention for the intended victim transfers to the actual victim (Latimer)
Decision in Pembilton
Malice is transferred from person to person or object to object
Coincidence Rule
The actus reus and mens rea are a continuing act and as long as they occur ‘at some point,’ the crime will be complete (Church)
Strict Liability Crimes
Do not require mens rea, D will be guilty of a crime as long as they committed the actus reus
A judge will use these to decide whether a crime is strict liability or not
The Gammon Guidelines
The crime is not strict liability if mens rea words are used, such as
Intention, knowingly, reckless
Not strict liability if crime is truly criminal, for example
Murder, rape
Remaining Gammon Guidelines
Penalty of prison, social concern, and regulatory
