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GDL Law Notes GDL Criminal Law Notes

Mens Rea Notes

Updated Mens Rea Notes

GDL Criminal Law Notes

GDL Criminal Law

Approximately 551 pages

A collection of the best GDL notes the director of Oxbridge Notes (an Oxford law graduate) could find after combing through applications from top students and carefully evaluating each on accuracy, formatting, logical structure, spelling/grammar, conciseness and "wow-factor". In short these are what we believe to be the strongest set of GDL notes available in the UK this year. This collection of GDL notes is fully updated for recent exams, also making them the most up-to-date GDL study materials ...

The following is a more accessible plain text extract of the PDF sample above, taken from our GDL Criminal Law Notes. Due to the challenges of extracting text from PDFs, it will have odd formatting:

- Definition of a crime: per DJ Lanham

  • actus reus: required act.

  • mens rea: required state of mind – generally must coincide with actus reus.

  • absence of defence

  • - Mens Rea: terms.

    • intention

    • recklessness

    • dishonesty: relevant in some property offences

    • knowledge/belief

    • ‘malice’: meaning depends on context.

    Intention

    - Intention: e.g. Mens Rea for Murder – ‘malice aforethought’ (but misleading).

    • R v Vickers: intention to kill (express malice) or intention to cause GBH (implied malice).

      • GBH: really serious harm (DPP v Smith) or just serious harm (R v Saunders).

    - What does ‘intention’ mean?

    • Smith & Hogan: ‘direct aim or purpose’.

    • R v Moloney: no elaboration needed in most cases (per Lord Bridge).

      • subjective: what did d. actually intend to do.

    • motive distinguished from intent: motive irrelevant per se.

      • intent: what d. intended to do; motive: why d. intended to do it.

      • Chandler v DPP: individual can intend both their ends and the means through which they will achieve them immediate intent relevant for MR.

    - Indirect/oblique intent: consequence not d’s intention but inevitable side effect.

    • R v Nedrick (CoA) + R v Woollin (HoL): 2 stage test.

      • 1. outcome virtual certainty (objective test).

        • v. high bar: must be almost bound to happen, not just highly probable.

      • 2. defendant appreciates/foresees this (subjective test).

    • evidence, not definition: test satisfied jury may find d. intended to kill/cause GBH.

      • R v Matthews & Alleyn: explicit – just guidance to jury, not a definition of intent.

    • rare application: N.B. possible only in crimes of specific intent (intention only MR).

      • when jury ask for guidance.

      • where evidence that positive intention exists which has nothing to do with intention required for crime.

        • e.g. man sets fire to barn to kill horse, knowing that someone asleep in barn.

    Recklessness

    - Recklessness: e.g. Criminal Damage and Wounding or Inflicting GBH.

    • s1(1) Criminal Damages Act 1971: ‘without lawful excuse damages or destroys property belonging to another intending to destroy or damage any such property or being reckless as to whether any such property would be destroyed or damaged

      • 2 forms of MR: prosecution can rely on intention or recklessness.

    • s20 Offences against the Person Act 1861: ‘unlawfully and maliciously wound or inflict any grievous bodily harm upon any other person’.

      • ‘malice’: intention or recklessness (in this context).

    - What is recklessness?

    • R v Cunningham: d. ‘foresees that the particular type of harm might be done and yet has...

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