Mens rea essay

Actus reus is a guilty act meaning unlawful killing, the second element involves however more complex and ambiguous area of law. The term mens rea comes from Latin and means ‘guilty mind’.

Essays are therefore included on the important aspects of mens rea: intention and recklessness. Question 1 The practice of leaving the issue of intention to the jury without any judicial guidance as to its meaning is unworkable and likely to produce inconsistent decisions. Discuss this statement with reference to decided cases.

There are different forms of mens rea depending on a particular crime. According to the Homicide Act 1957 (s1) mens rea for murder is ‘malice aforethought’ which was interpreted by the courts as an intention to kill or to cause gbh. Nevertheless murder is a common law offence so its elements were further developed in case law.

A search for consistency is therefore a futile exercise! Students should therefore be aware that studying the chapters on actus reus and mens rea can produce a distorted impression of the criminal law. One is dealing with concepts in isolation and could form the impression that these general principles are consistently applied.