CRM 1300 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Actus Reus, Mens Rea, The Need
5 Dec 2016
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Document Summary
A body of jurisprudence that includes the definition of various crimes, the specification of various penalties, a set of general principals concerning criminal responsibility, and a series of defences to a criminal charge. Codified rules for the exercise of sovereign authority/ power. Utilitarian principles of preventing harm/producing the greatest good. Justice and fairness equal" punishment/correction on the basis of guilt and responsibility. Guilt and responsibility require both a wrongful (criminal) act (actus reus) and clear intention to do wrong/guilty mind (mens rea) Not enough to just commit the crime but must have an intention. We always want to surrender to the law because they have more power & can detain us. Beccaria was critical of the barbarity, irregularity and ad hoc nature of 18th-century criminal justice. Swift, certain, proportionate to the harm caused by the act. Focuses on the quality of the act. More harmful the act the more harsher the punishment should be.
