LAW 602 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Credit Union, Security Interest, Actus Reus
25 Feb 2016
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Document Summary
Nature of defence depends on nature of charge & proceedings. For a criminal charge, prosecution required to prove prohibited act (actus reus) and mental element (mens rea) beyond a reasonable doubt. The defendant thus only needs to only raise reasonable doubt. The defendant is presumed innocent, no obligation on defence to lead evidence to raise reasonable doubt. Defence for regulatory offences depends on classification of regulatory offence: Mens rea: much like criminal offence, crown required to prove both prohibited act and mental element; defendant may raise reasonable doubt to be found not guilty. Absolute liability: upon proof of prohibited act by prosecution, defendant has no defence of lack of fault, but may put forward other defences to raise reasonable doubt. Challenging the prohibited act is the only defence for absolute liability. Full mens rea offence under criminal code requires that the accused have an intent to perform the acts that constitute the actus reus of the offence.
