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In criminal law, mens rea (/ ˈ m ɛ n z ˈ r eɪ ə /; Law Latin for "guilty mind" [1]) is the mental state of a defendant who is accused of committing a crime. In common law jurisdictions, most crimes require proof both of mens rea and actus reus ("guilty act") before the defendant can be found guilty.
In law, knowledge is one of the degrees of mens rea that constitute part of a crime.For example, in English law, the offence of knowingly being a passenger in a vehicle taken without consent requires that the prosecution prove not only that the defendant was a passenger in a vehicle and that it was taken by the driver without consent, but also that the defendant knew that it was taken without ...
Mens rea refers to the crime's mental elements of the defendant's intent. This is a necessary element—that is, the criminal act must be voluntary or purposeful. Mens rea is the mental intention (mental fault), or the defendant's state of mind at the time of the offense, sometimes called the guilty mind. It stems from the ancient maxim of ...
Willful ignorance is sometimes called willful blindness, contrived ignorance, conscious avoidance, intentional ignorance or Nelsonian knowledge. The jury instruction for willful blindness is sometimes called the " ostrich instruction ".
In other situations (especially regarding specific intent crimes that have "with intent to" in their definition), intent may be considered to refer to purpose only. Arguably, [weasel words] the most influential legal definitions of purpose and knowledge come from the Model Penal Code's definitions of mens rea.
The phrase mens rea is typically translated as "guilty mind" and describes the expected mental state of an accused. General intent is an awareness of factors constituting the crime, including attendant circumstances. The criminal must be aware of committing an illegal act and that attendant circumstances are likely to occur. The requisite ...
The terms actus reus and mens rea developed in English Law are derived from a principle stated by Edward Coke, namely, actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea, [1] which means: "an act does not make a person guilty unless (their) mind is also guilty"; hence, the general test of guilt is one that requires proof of fault, culpability or ...
Genocidal intent is the specific mental element, or mens rea, required to classify an act as genocide under international law, [1] particularly the 1948 Genocide Convention. [2] To establish genocide, perpetrators must be shown to have had the dolus specialis , or specific intent , to destroy a particular national, ethnic, racial, or religious ...