Professional Documents
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Elements of Crime
Elements of Crime
Elements of Crime
LAW 2310
SECTION 2
SEM 2,2014/2015
Definition of Law
Public Law
Criminal Law
Crime
CIVIL LAW
Proceedings may be
discontinued and can be
settled outside the court.
CRIMINAL LAW
CIVIL LAW
CRIMINAL LAW
CIVIL LAW
In term of terminology
used:
- Prosecute.
- v. reads as against.
- Citation: PP v. Accused
In term of terminology
used:
- Sue.
- v. reads as and.
- Citation: Plaintiff v.
Defendant
If PP succeed, the
accused will be
convicted and the word
guilty is used.
Maxim
RESULT CRIME
Conduct or Act
A father failed to perform his duty to feed his kids. This is an illegal
omission because it is his duty to take care of his children.
Omission
Failure to Act
A) Resulting from Special Relationship
This is illustrated in the case of Walter Gibbins & Edith Rose
Proctor. These were appeal against conviction on matters of law.
Appellants were convicted, on the 18/03/1918, of murder, and were
sentenced to death. The appellants were convicted of the murder of
Gibbinss daughter, Nelly, a girl of 7, it is being alleged that she died
of starvation as the result of a long course of cruelty and neglect at
the hands of both appellants. Gibbins earned good wage, which he
brought home and gave to Proctor to maintain the house and those in
it. There is no evidence that there was not enough to keep them all
in health. And all were looked after except one, namely Nelly, who
was starved to death. Her organs were healthy, and there was no
reason why she should have died if she had been supplied with food.
She was kept upstairs apart from the others, and there was evidence
that Proctor hated her and cursed her.
C)
Mens Rea
B) Recklessness
This concept is unknown to the Penal
Code but has been introduced into other
local legislation, such as the Road
Transport Act 1987, for example:Section 41: Causing death by reckless
or dangerous driving
Section 42: Recklessness and
dangerous driving
C) Knowledge
Knowledge and reason to believe
are to be clearly distinguished. Belief
is somewhat weaker than knowledge
but a well-grounded belief that
certain consequences will follow a
certain act is ordinarily as good as
knowledge.
E) Malignantly
Malignantly means maliciouslyA
thing is done maliciously, if it is
done wickedly or in depraved or
perverse or malignant spirit,
regardless of social duty and
deliberately bent on mischief.
F) Dishonestly
This concept is defined in section 24 of the Penal Code.
In PP v. Wong Kim Fatt, Dato George K.S. Seah FJ stated that To
establish dishonesty, it is not necessary that the prosecution should
establish an intention to retain permanently the property
misappropriated. An intention wrongfully to deprive the owner of
the use of the property for a time and to secure the use of the
property for ones own benefit for a time may be sufficient. It is not
necessary to prove in what precise manner the money or property
was misappropriated. The essential thing to be proved is that the
accused was actuated by dishonest intention. The failure of the
accused to account for the money proved to have been received by
him or giving a false account as to its use is generally a strong
circumstance against the accused. The mental act of intent to
deprive the owner of his property is the gist of the offence.
G) Fraudulently
This type of mens rea is defined in
section 25 of the Penal Code.
H) Voluntarily
This concept is defined in section 39
of the Penal Code.
Conclusion
The legal maxim actus non facit reum nisi mens sit
rea means that an act cannot constitute an offence
unless it is accompanied by a guilty mind. From this
maxim, two elements must be fulfill, that is actus reus
and mens rea.