The Mental Element

Abstract

The majority of criminal offences require, as well as the actus reus, a specific state of mind on the part of the accused, and this is usually referred to as the mens rea. The definition of the offence, in a statute or in the common law, may contain a fairly precise description of the state of mind required (such as ‘knowing or believing that the goods are stolen’ in the case of handling stolen goods, in s.22 of the Theft Act 1968). In some cases, however, the definition either uses a general word such as ‘maliciously’ or does not contain any indication of the mental element required at all.