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In criminal law, intent is a subjective state of mind that must accompany the acts of certain crimes to constitute a violation. A more formal, generally synonymous legal term is scienter : intent or knowledge of wrongdoing.
Therefore, intoxication will rarely (if ever) deny the mens rea of crimes of basic intent. With specific intent, the character of the act is criminalised, for the act itself is often objectively innocent. Appropriation of an item is perfectly innocent, yet when one appropriates with the intent to permanently deprive the owner of it, there is a ...
A specific intent crime requires the doing of an act coupled with specific intent or objective. Specific intent cannot be inferred from the act. The major specific intent crimes are: conspiracy (intent to have crime completed), attempt (intent to complete a crime – whether specific or not, but falling short in completing the crime),
In 1985, The Law Commission Report on Codification of the Criminal Law proposed the following definition of murder: A person who kills another: (a) intending to kill; or (b) intending to cause serious injury and being aware that he may kill; [or (c) intending to cause fear of death or serious injury and being aware that he may kill]
Attempt to commit a particular crime is a crime, usually considered to be of the same or lesser gravity as the particular crime attempted. [1]: 669–671 Attempt is a type of inchoate crime, a crime that is not fully developed. The crime of attempt has two elements, intent and some conduct toward completion of the crime. [2]
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 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] Conditional intent – where somebody has an intent to commit a crime only in certain circumstances – has also been deemed acceptable for an indictment for attempting a crime. [9]
In a civil proceeding or criminal prosecution under the common law or under statute, a defendant may raise a defense (or defence) [a] in an effort to avert civil liability or criminal conviction. A defense is put forward by a party to defeat a suit or action brought against the party, and may be based on legal grounds or on factual claims. [2]