Law 5110 Study Guide - Quiz Guide: Substantive Law, Roman Law, Actus Reus
Document Summary
The actus reus and mens rea dichotomy. At first, criminal law was based on traditional aspects ten commands and roman law however societies developed and started to form different punishments for wider set of acts (environment, economic crimes, traffic) The attribution of liability generally requires an analysis of two aspects. Each crime can be split into: an actus reus, the objective element of a crime, a mens rea, the mental or subjective element of the crime. For example, the offense of murder is, for instance, often defined as the intentional killing of another human being. In this case, the actus reus consists of killing another person, while the mens rea element of this offense requires that the perpetrator did so intentionally. Act does not make a man guilty unless his mind is (also) guilty". The actus reus element is generally considered to include the doctrine of conduct, including omissions, as well as the doctrine of causation.
