CRJS 3011 Lecture 5: Criminal Law Lecture 5 February 6th 2017

• School: Mount Royal University
• Department: Criminal Justice
• Course: CRJS 3011
• Professor: Doug King

Document Summary

Justi(cid:272)e di(cid:454)o(cid:374) (cid:862)(cid:373)oral (cid:271)la(cid:373)e(cid:449)orthi(cid:374)ess (cid:272)o(cid:373)es pri(cid:374)(cid:272)ipall(cid:455) through the (cid:373)e(cid:374)s rea, that it is(cid:374)"t i(cid:374) the a(cid:272)t itself that is so(cid:272)iall(cid:455) har(cid:373)ful, it is i(cid:374) the (cid:373)e(cid:374)s rea that (cid:449)e fi(cid:374)d the legal (cid:271)la(cid:373)e(cid:449)orthi(cid:374)ess(cid:863) If you do the actus reas but are incapable of the guilty mind, you are not guilty of the offence. If you cannot prove mens rea, you cannot prove moral blameworthiness. Complete defense: if you successfully advance this defense, you are not guilty you have raised reasonable doubt. Pro(cid:448)o(cid:272)atio(cid:374) does(cid:374)"t allo(cid:449) (cid:455)ou to get off (cid:373)urder. It must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused committed a wrongful act (or actus reus). There is no obligation on the crown to prove any element of mens rea in the strict liability standard. Besides challenging actus reus, the accused can claim he/she/it acted with due diligence as a defence. It is up to the defence to demonstrate due diligence.