Posted by MENS REA
Author: Syed Shams Abbas, 5th Year, BALLB
INTRODUCTION
The term “Mens Rea” is a latin word meaning “Guilty Mind”. In common law, in order to rightly interpret a criminal case the first thing that is taken into account is the “Intention” of the wrongdoer, What was the ‘State of Mind’ of the wrongdoer at the time of committing the crime? The whole judicial proceedings revolves around this answer as the Defendant tries to prove himself innocent and on the contrary the Plaintiff tries to prove the defendant guilty. Therefore Mens Rea is the essence of all the Criminal judicial proceedings. To prove the actual “Mens Rea” is the real quest in the prosecution.
The two neccesary elements of a criminal prosecution are “Actus Reus” which means ‘action or conduct which is a constituent element of a crime, as opposed to the mental state of the accused’ and “Mens Rea” which means ‘Guilty Mind’. As a general rule, unless a person has committed the necessary ”actus reus”, he cannot be found guilty; nevertheless there are some exceptions. Now, it is apt to see that ” mens rea, in Anglo-American law, criminal intent or evil mind. In general, the definition of a criminal offense involves not only an act or omission and its consequences but also the accompanying mental state of the actor.
Origin: The concept of mens rea developed in England during the latter part of the common-law era (about the year 1600) when judges began to hold that an act alone could not create criminal liability unless it was accompanied by a guilty state of mind.
Crimes involving mens rea are of two types:
(i) Crimes of basic intent and (ii) Crimes of specific intent.
In the former clause of crimes, the mens rea does not go beyond the actus reus. In the second, it goes beyond the contemplation of prohibited act and foresight of its consequence has a purposive element.; (At para 62), As stated by Williams : What does legal mens rea means? It refers to the mental element necessary for the particular crime, and this mental element may be either intention to do immediate act or bringing about the consequence or (in some crimes) recklessness as to such act or consequence. In a different and more precise language, the mens rea means intention or recklessness as to the element constituting actus reus. These two concepts, intention and recklessness, hold a key to the understanding of large part of criminal law, some crimes require intention and nothing else will do, but some can be committed either intentionally or recklessly.
The Apex Court in the case of Director of Enforcement vs. M.C.T.M.Corporation Pvt. Ltd.- observed thus : “Mens rea” is a state of mind. Under the criminal law, mens rea is considered as the “guilty intention” and unless it is found that the accused had the guilty intention to commit the crime he cannot be held guilty of committing the crime.”
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This Article was prepared or accomplished by Syed Shams Abbas in his personal capacity. The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of the LawOF.in
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