Law - Unit 3 - Mock Exam Question

The first 200 words of this essay...

Criminal Law

1.

a)

The actus reus of a crime is all the elements of the offence committed other than the state of mind of the defendant. If the accused is to be found guilty of a crime, his or her behaviour in committing the actus reus must have been voluntary. In R v Burgess (1991) the defendant was sleep walking when he attacked someone, he was acquitted because it was said his conduct was involuntary. Crimes can be divided into three types depending on the nature of their actus reus. Firstly, a conduct crime is where the defendant will be liable simply by his conduct, the result of the defendant's actions is irrelevant. An example is perjury, where someone makes a false statement whilst under oath, whether the statement affects the outcome of the trial is not important, the offence has still been committed.

Secondly, a state of affairs crime is where the defendant will be liable for an offence simply by being in a particular place when the state of affairs has been declared wrong. An example is where someone is in a place they are not allowed to be