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Unit 24 P1
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Essay of 4 pages for the course Unit 24 - Aspects of Criminal Law Relating to Business at PEARSON (Unit 24 P1)
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By: charleyoconnor • 3 year ago
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IntroductionIn this task I am going to describe the elements of a crime.
The intention of the criminal law is to ensure that every citizen knows the boundaries of
acceptable conduct in the UK, for example it is clearly unacceptable conduct to steal from
another individual thereby it is necessary to have the criminal law of theft under the Theft Act
1968.
A crime is an act or the commission of an act that is forbidden or the omission of a duty that
is commanded by a public law and that makes the offender liable to punishment by that law.
Primararily there are two main elements of a crime; the actus reus and the mens rea. The
actus reus refers to the physical aspects of a crime whilst the mens rea is the mental element
of a crime.
Actus Reus
Actus reus is the Latin term used to describe a criminal act. Every crime must be considered
in two parts-the physical act of the crime (actus reus) and the mental intent to do the crime
(mens rea). To establish actus reus, a lawyer must prove that the accused party was
responsible for a deed prohibited by criminal law.
Actus reus is commonly defined as a criminal act that was the result of voluntary bodily
movement. This describes a physical activity that harms another person or damages property.
Anything from a physical assault or murder to the destruction of public property would
qualify as an actus reus.
Mens Rea
Mens rea is a legal phrase used to describe the mental state a person must be in while
committing a crime for it to be intentional. It can refer to a general intent to break the law or a
specific, premeditated plan to commit a particular offense. To convict an accused person of a
wrong doing, a criminal prosecutor must show beyond any reasonable doubt that the suspect
actively and knowingly participated in a crime that harmed another person or their property.
To put it simply, mens rea determines whether someone committed a criminal deed
purposefully or accidentally. This idea commonly applies to murder cases. The
perpetrator’s mens rea, or mental state at the time of the killing, is an essential factor in
whether they will be declared guilty or innocent. In order to receive a conviction, the lawyer
must prove that the accused party had some intention or willingness to end the life of another
person. On the other hand, if evidence shows the death to be accidental and unavoidable, the
suspect must be declared innocent and set free.
The four types of mens rea
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