Introduction

Crime means any wrongful act does by any person which is harmful to the society. If any person
does any kind of act that violate the law is crime. It can be theft or murder or the harmful act to
the society or state. Such acts are forbidden and punishable by law. The criminal needs to pay
damages or compensation to the injured plaintiff. But in some cases the state punishes the
wrongdoer with the aim of maintaining peace in the society and promoting good behaviour
towards community or the society at large. Greed, anger, jealousy, revenge or pride are the main
reason for committing a crime.
Definition Of Crime
A criminal offence according to the meaning of crime given in Indian Penal Code is only
committed when an act, which is forbidden by law is done voluntarily by a human being. These
two conditions for penal liability guilty act and guilty mind.
Different jurists have defined the word crime as follows: – Whatever is injurious to public
welfare is an offence.” According to Stephen “a crime is said to be an act which is
prohibited/forbidden by law and against the moral morality of the society”.
Acc. To Kenny “crimes or offences are wrong whose sanction (approval or penalty) is punitive
(Intended as a punishment) and in no way unacceptable by any private person, but permissible by
the crown alone, if unacceptable at all.”
Essential Elements Of Crime
1. Human Being
The first element of a crime is a human being. Any wrongful act to be called a crime must be
done by a human being. There must be a human being under a legal obligation to act in a
particular way, and it must also be capable of being punished.‘Person’ is defined in Section 11 of
Indian Penal Code which includes company, association or body of persons whether incorporated
or not. The word person includes artificial or juridical persons. He is a legal entity created by law
which is not a natural person such as corporation created under state statute.
2. Mens Rea
The second essential element of a crime is mens rea or guilty mind or evil intent. Mens rea refers
to the mental element that is necessary for a particular crime. Evil intent or guilty mind on the
part of a human being.
Any wrongful act committed by a human being cannot be called a crime if committed without
evil intent. There must be an evil intent while doing an act.
There is a well-known maxim– ‘Actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea.’ It means ‘the act itself
does not make a man guilty unless his intentions were so.’ From this maxim, there came another
maxim- ‘actus me invito factus non est mens actus,’ which means ‘an act done by me against my
will is not my act at all.’
3. Actus Reus
The third element of the crime is actus reus. The criminal intent to be punishable must be
obvious in some voluntary act or omission.
Any act committed or omitted in accordance with the evil intent and is forbidden by law is Actus
Reus.
As per Kenny, ‘actus reus’ is such a result of human conduct as the law seeks to prevent. The act
committed must be one that is forbidden or punished by the law.
An act also includes omissions. A man is also held liable if some duty is imposed upon him by
law, and he omits to discharge that duty. An omission must be a breach of a legal duty. The
general rule of Actus Reus is no liability for failing to Act unless at the time of failure to Act the
defendant was under a legal duty to take positive action.
4. Injury
Injury is the last important, or we can say the essential element of a crime. It must be caused
illegally to another human being or a body of individuals or society at large. ‘Injury’ has been
defined in section 44 of the Indian Penal Code as ‘any harm illegally caused to any person in
body, mind, reputation or property by another person. Elements of crime are a set of facts that
must be proven to convict a defendant of a crime.
Mens rea vs Actus reus
There is not much difference between the mens rea and actus reus as these both are the essential
factors of establishing a crime. The only difference between the two is that mens rea is a mental
element and actus reus is a physical element.
In most criminal offenses, the mens rea occurs before actus reus as the person should have an
intention or knowledge of what will result from his actions.
Mens Rea and Actus reus combination
An act by itself does not constitute a crime; rather, the person’s intent and the act itself, if it is
forbidden, combine to produce the crime. On some occasions, the case’s circumstances are also
taken into account. For example, if person ‘A’ is angry with person’ B’ and in a moment of
weakness wishes to kill person ‘B’ but later does not act on it, mere intention to kill someone
does not amount to a crime. Similarly, suppose a person by mistake enters the property of
another person without any intention to cause injury or damage to the latter person. In that case,
that person can not be held liable as he had no intention to commit the crime.
Conclusion
Mens rea and actus reus are two fundamental elements of criminal law applied in most countries.
Actus reus and mens rea both play a significant role in an offence. Criminal guilt is an essential
element for violation of criminal law. Therefore, Wrongful intention should be present in any
offence.
Mens rea refers to a mental condition in which a person intentionally breaks the law. An act must
be conducted with a guilty conscience to be considered a crime. We can say that mens rea means
“guilty mind.” On the other hand, the actus reus means “guilty act.” It is a requirement in
showing that a criminal act was performed.
Reference
 Crime definition, Writing law, available at, last seen on 2/09/2023
https://www.writinglaw.com/crime-ipc-definition/
 Crime elements, Lawboomi, available at, last seen on 4/09/2023
https://lawbhoomi.com/stages-of-crime-in-ipc/#:~:text=There%20are%20four%20stages
%20of,IPC)%20and%20other%20relevant%20laws.
 Men’s rea and Actus reus, Unacademy, available at, last seen on 4/09/2023
https://unacademy.com/content/upsc/study-material/law/mens-rea-and-actus-reus/#:~:text=As
%20a%20result%2C%20mens%20rea,a%20criminal%20act%20was%20performed/
 Men’s rea and Actus reus combination, Lawstudy, available at, 5/09/2023
https://lawsstudy.com/ipc-india-crime-and-its-essential-elements-under-ipc-1860/
 Indian penal code, 1860, Bareact, last seen on 5/09/2023