CRI225H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Actus Reus, Mens Rea, Summary Offence
19 Jan 2020
School
Course
Professor
Elements of an Offence
- Offenses are like recipes—all “elements” (ingredients) must be present and must be proven
beyond a reasonable doubt
Two essential elements of any criminal offense
- Actus reus: guilty act
- Mens rea: the guilty mind
- Act does not make a person guilty unless the mind is guilty
Actus reus: physical elements of the offense, including
- The act that must be performed or omission that is prescribed
- Act or omission must be voluntary
- Circumstances or conditions in which act must occur
- Any consequence that must be caused by the act
- Principle of Coexistence: mens rea and actus reus must occur simultaneously
- The act: how to identify the prohibited act
- Omissions: when is failing to act a criminal offense?
- Voluntariness: act must be the willed act of the accused
Technical requirements for actus reus
- Age restrictions
- Criminal code s.13: no person shall be convicted of an offence in respect of an act or
omission on his part while that person was under the age of twelve years
- Applies only to physical age—not mental age
- Territorial restrictions
- No person shall be convicted of an offence committed outside Canada
- Exceptions for…
- Conspiracies: people in Canada conspiring to commit an offense
outside Canada and vice versa
- Offences committed on aircrafts
- Specific offenses like treason, torture, war crimes
Principle of Coexistence (principle of simultaneity or concurrence):
- All elements of the offense must be present at the same time
- If you commit actus reus one moment and have the mens rea at a different moment, you’re
not criminally liable for an offence that requires both
- If I want to kill my neighbor on Monday and I plan to kill him Wednesday by
poisoning him, then I accidentally run him over and kill him on Tuesday—I am not
guilty of murder
R v. Droste
- Droste intended to murder his wife by lighting car on fire with gasoline lined
- Before he could light the car, it crashed into a bridge and ignited prematurely
- Thus, both kids inside were killed in his car instead of his wife
- Droste charged with their murder and convicted
Issue
- ONCA ordered a new trial
- Judge did not tell the jury that the mens rea and actus reus must be concurrent
R v. Meli
- Meli intended to kill his victim, hitting him repeatedly until he thought he was dead. Then,
the victim’s body was thrown over a cliff. However, the victim wasn’t dead yet, but
ultimately died of being thrown.
Issue
- Accused argued when there was the mens rea (during beating) death did not ensue. When
death ensued (throwing over the cliff) there was no longer an intention to kill—mens rea
did not coincide with the act that resulted in death
Decision and Reasons
- The judicial committee of the privy council (used to be the final court of appeal for Canada)
concluded the entire episode was one continuing transaction that could not be
subdivided into individual acts. At some point, the requisite mens rea coincided with the
continuing series of wrongful acts that constituted the transaction. Thus the conviction for
murder was sustained.
Principle
- Not always necessary for the guilty act and the intent to be completely concurrent
throughout. They can exist at different times in one continuing transaction.
Principle of Co-existence
R. Cooper
Supreme Court adopted from the principle of Meli
- Determination of whether the guilty mind or mens rea coincides with the wrongful act
depends to a large extent on the nature of the act
- If accused shot the victim in the head with death ensuing a few minutes after
shooting, then it is easy to infer the requisite intent or mens rea coincided with the
wrongful act
- Series of acts may be from the same transaction
- Sufficient that intent and act of strangulation coincided at some point
- Not necessary the requisite intent continue throughout the entire 2 minutes
required to kill the victim
Actus reus: Commission
Document Summary
Offenses are like recipes all elements (ingredients) must be present and must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Act does not make a person guilty unless the mind is guilty. Actus reus: physical elements of the offense, including. The act that must be performed or omission that is prescribed. Circumstances or conditions in which act must occur. Any consequence that must be caused by the act. Principle of coexistence: mens rea and actus reus must occur simultaneously. The act: how to identify the prohibited act. Voluntariness: act must be the willed act of the accused. Criminal code s. 13: no person shall be convicted of an offence in respect of an act or omission on his part while that person was under the age of twelve years. Applies only to physical age not mental age. No person shall be convicted of an offence committed outside canada. Conspiracies: people in canada conspiring to commit an offense outside canada and vice versa.
