Criminal Law Actus Reus
Actus Reus, roughly translated means guilty act, however, its meaning in criminal law is wider
It consists of all the elements of a crime other than the state of mind of the defendant
Crimes are made up of various elements which are defined in static, common law or regulations
These elements form either the Actus Reus or the Mends Reus. The Mends Reus relates to the mental element of the crime
For example, intention, dishonesty, knowledge or recklessness. All other elements are Actus Reus
In particular, Actus Reus may consist of conduct, result, a state of apprise or an omission
1. Conduct. The conduct itself must be criminal. For example, the conduct of appropriating property to the effect of theft
The conduct of lying under oath forms the Actus Reus of perjury
It does not matter whether the lie is believed or if it had any effect on the outcome of the case
The Actus Reus of the crime is complete upon the conduct of lying
Examples of conduct crimes include perjury, theft, making off without payment, rape and possessing offenses such as drugs or firearms
2. Result crimes are where the conduct itself may not be criminal, but the result of the conduct may be
For example, it is not a crime to close doors, but if it hits a person or smashes a window it should amount to a crime
Examples of result crimes include murder, manslaughter, OVH, DDH, wounding and criminal damage
Cordation must be established in all result crimes. This means the prosecution have to establish the result
i.e. the death, injury or damage property was caused by the defendant's act or omission
For example, in RV White, the defendant was not liable because his act of poisoning his mother's milk
did not cause her death as she died of a heart attack. 3. State of the fire crimes are situational type crimes where the Actus Reus consists of
being rather than doing. For example, OOING, drunken charge of a vehicle as seen in Duck V. Hecock
where the defendant was liable when he slept in his car after drinking
Another example is OOING, an illegal alien. This was seen in RV Lafayette, where a French woman was deported against her will from Ireland to
England and was immediately arrested on her arrival for being an illegal alien
4. Omission. In some circumstances, an omission, i.e. doing nothing, can amount to the Actus Reus of a crime
The general rule regarding omission is that there is no liability for a failure to act
For example, if you see a child drowning in shallow water and you don't do anything to
save that child, you will not incur criminal liability for your inaction
no matter how easy it may have been for you to save the child's life
This general rule, however, is subject to exceptions. For example, a lifeguard may have a contractual duty to act
Please see separate video clips for more on criminal liability for omission
In summary, Actus Reus is all elements of a crime other than those forming the mental element
the mens rea. This definition is wider than the simple translation of guilty act
Actus Reus may consist of 1. Conduct 2. Result 3. Escape of a child or 4. An omission
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