LAWS 2302 Chapter Notes - Chapter 7.2.2: Beachcombing, Mens Rea
13 Apr 2016
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The inability to use mistake of law as a defence is covered under section 19. There is an argument that certain types of mistake of law known as officially induced errors should be accepted as valid defences. 19: ignorance of the law by a person who commits an offence is not an excuse for committing that offence. Accused was charged with fraudulently collecting saw-logs which were adrift in a booming ground and converting them to his own use contrary to s. 394(a) (i) of. The facts indicated that accused took two logs which were floating in the fraser river about 40 or 50 feet from a booming ground. He later sold them to p. whose practice was to have all drift-logs scaled by the government and the owners notified so that they could claim them.
