Essay Database

How has the law developed on intention? Mens Rea: One of the major elements in culpability is that the accused should have a mental state commensurate with committing the offence. This state is known as mens rea, which can be translated as "guilty mind" or "blameworthy mind". Nearly all criminal offences require a demonstration of mens rea. However, it is unusual to see the term mens rea used in statute; instead statutes use terms like "…

…who commit crimes out of negligence, for example failing to stop at a stop sign because they did not see it? They are often given a fine and held responsible for that negligence, which would seem to violate the above principle. Therefore on this basis, Parliament should regard the law on intention as not being adequate enough for what we are now experiencing on a daily basis, and legislate now to stop more perplexity occurring.