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In criminal law, intent is a subjective state of mind ... But intent can also come from the common law viewpoint as well. ... Under s8(b) therefore, the jury is ...
Parliament reacted with s 8 of the Criminal Justice Act 1967 to restore the position originally at common law. In Frankland v The Queen, [3] Lord Ackner held DPP v Smith to be incorrect insofar as it required objective foresight in determining intention of murder, saying that the common law reflected s 8 of the 1967 Act.
The general rule under common law and statutory law is that ignorance of the law or a mistake of law is no defense to criminal prosecution. However, in some cases, courts have held that if knowledge of a law, or if intent to break a law, is a material element of an offense, then a defendant may use good faith ignorance as a defense.
The rule of felony murder is a legal doctrine in some common law jurisdictions that broadens the crime of murder: when someone is killed (regardless of intent to kill) in the commission of a dangerous or enumerated crime (called a felony in some jurisdictions), the offender, and also the offender's accomplices or co-conspirators, may be found guilty of murder.
Together with an actus reus, mens rea forms the bedrock of criminal law, although strict liability offenses have encroached on this notion. A guilty mind means intending to do that which harms someone. Intention under criminal law is separate from a person's motive. R v Mohan [1975] 2 All ER 193, intention defined as "a decision to bring about...
Transferred intent (or transferred mens rea, or transferred malice, in English law) is a legal doctrine that holds that, when the intention to harm one individual inadvertently causes a second person to be hurt instead, the perpetrator is still held responsible.
In R v Pearman, [6] the Court of Appeal of England and Wales confirmed that the definition of intent in the 1981 Act is the same as the definition in the common law. [7] The common law gives intention "its normal meaning: purpose or aim", with judges advised not to, in the majority of cases, attempt to complicate the definition. [8]
Under common law, a person may use deadly force to defend against a deadly attack unless non-deadly force would suffice. Some jurisdictions establish a duty to retreat before using deadly force. In such jurisdictions, a non-aggressor has the duty to retreat from a threatening situation if this can be done with complete safety.
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