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actus reus

Last modified: Thu Feb 23 16:37:37 2006

`blameworthy act'; it is used to denote the event on which a criminal offence is based. In many cases the actus reus will be an explicit act (theft, assault, etc). In others it will be a prohibited state of affairs (e.g., having an offensive weapon (see: OffensiveWeapon) in a public place). In some cases the actus can be an omission to act (see: Omission), but usually only when the accused had a legal duty to act. Sometimes the actus may not be the event itself, but the effect it has on the victim (e.g., in rape), or the circumstances that surround it (e.g., bigamous marriage).

It is fundamental that the actus reus be a voluntary act; if a defendant could not have acted any other way (see: Automatism) then not only is he not liable, then the actus reus is deemed not have ocurred. Of course there will be the `actus' part -- the action -- but it will not be `reus'. In offences of StrictLiability this is important, because in those offences the prosecution has no duty to show a mens rea (see: MensRea); thus an offence cannot be defended on the basis that there was no intention to comment the offence, but it can be defended on the basis that no offence was committed.

This defence will only be available if the defendant truly had no choice; for example, he was physically pushed by someone else. A defendant who makes a choice between two equally dreadful alternatives (`help us rob this bank or we'll shoot your wife') is not acting involuntarily in this sense, but he may have a GeneralDefence of Duress.

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