Mens Rea

• Mens rea


  Guilty mind
• Mens rea is generally the most important element in allocating blame and justifying any future punishment
• Mens rea refers to the defendant's state of mind at the time of the offence
• Each crime has its own mens rea that must be established to gain a conviction
• Mens rea for murder


  Malice, aforethought, intended to kill/cause serious harm
• Mens rea for theft

  Must have been dishonest, intend to permanently deprive
• Types of mens rea

  • Intention
  • Recklessness
  • Negligence
• Intention is not to be confused with motive
• If mens rea has been established, the accused can be convicted even if their motive was good
• Motive may be taken into account when sentencing the defendant
• Intention


  The most serious level of mens rea, required for serious offences such as murder and GBH
• Forms of intention

  • Direct
  • Oblique
• Direct intention


  Defendant desired and set out to achieve the result
• Oblique intention


  Defendant did not want the result but knew it was inevitable
• Parliament has not defined the meaning of oblique intention through legislation
• It is up to the jury to decide whether the necessary intent was present
• The judge must give the jury guidance on the issue of intention, developed through case law
• The subjective test for oblique intention is whether the defendant himself foresaw the result
• Cases dealing with oblique intention

  • Neck (CA) - poured petrol through letter box, child died
• The virtual certainty test is used to determine how probable the consequence was and whether the defendant foresaw it