SOSC 2652 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Organisational Routines, Signify, Racialization
Document Summary
Part 1: the main elements of a crime are actus rea and mens rea. (also absence of any defence). Actus reas refers to the guilty act and mens rea refers to the guilty mind (intent). However, there can be no culpable act unless it is performed with a mental state. This presumes that the individual is rational, has autonomy, and entails responsibility. Moreover, the conditions to convict someone of a crime are: voluntary act, causal act, and intentional act. Overall, principle of contemporaneity is that intent and act must occur at the same time. Common law (subjective and objective excuses): common law is based on precedent, or case law and decision is made through judges. Necessity: involves defendant acting unlawfully in order avoid a threat of immediate harm. Duress (all forms of duress outside of limits of s17 of ccc): involves defendant acting unlawfully in order to avoid immediate harm from other people.