Briefly Explain The Meaning Of These Terms: Actus Reus And Mens Rea

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Briefly Explain The Meaning Of These

Terms: Actus Reus And Mens Rea

Actus Reus means the 'guilty act' this must be voluntary. For example if a swarm of bees enter a car window and the drivers swerves, injuring someone, then he will not be liable because it wasn't voluntary. The Actus Reus may be an act, a failure to act or a state of affairs. The act may be direct or indirect action. Examples of a direct act could be battery or rape where the defendant makes contact with the claimant. An example of an indirect act could be where somebody shoots another, for this they would need to establish a chain of causation; to decide that pulling the trigger led to the claimant's injury. The defendant does not need to be aware of any medical conditions, for example if a swarm of bees left a honey farm and stung an allergic car driver causing him to have an anaphylactic shock and die, the owner of the bees would still be charged, this is known as the "thin skull rule". In another case a Jehovah Witness refused a blood transfusion after being stabbed, she later died, the person