“The Imposition Of Strict Liability Offences Is A Necessary Evil In The Fight To Protect The Public From Harm” Discuss

The first 200 words of this essay...

Duncan Hepburn

"The Imposition Of Strict Liability Offences Is A Necessary Evil In The Fight To Protect The Public From Harm" Discuss

Strict liability offences are crimes that do not require proof of mens rea-

intention, recklessness or even negligence as to one or more elements of the

actus reus. Common law examples of strict liability are public nuisance and

criminal libel. The concept of strict liability with no mens rea is perhaps best

shown in the case of Callow v Tillstone (1900) where basically a butcher got

a vet to certify whether or not a carcass was fit for human consumption. On

receiving the recommendation that it was, he offered it for sale. However the

meat turned out not to be fit. The butcher was convicted of the offence of

offering for sale meat that was not fit for human consumption. To many, this

sounds unfair as he had taken due care and reasonable steps to avoid

committing the offence and short of selling the meat the actus reus could not

be avoided. Generally strict liability