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actus reus
[Latin: a guilty act]The prohibited conduct or behaviour that the law seeks to prevent. Although commonly referred to as the “guilty act” this is rather simplistic, as the actus reus includes all the ...
actus reus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea
[Latin: an act is not necessarily a guilty act unless the accused has the necessary state of mind required for that offence]The maxim that, generally, a person cannot be guilty of a crime unless two ...
assault by penetration
A criminal offence under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, in which a person (A) intentionally penetrates the vagina or anus of another person (B) with part of his body or anything else, where the ...
automatism
A full defence to criminal liability, resulting in an acquittal. Automatism negates voluntariness, an implied element of the actus reus of any criminal offence. Sane automatism includes actions ...
basic intent
Any criminal offence for which recklessness or negligence will suffice to establish the * mens rea element may be considered an offence of basic intent. Compare specific intent. See also intoxication.
blameworthiness
A state of being guilty or warranting condemnation or censure. The notion of blameworthiness captures the idea that a criminal conviction connotes a moral evaluation of the defendant's guilt as ...
burden of proof
If in some situation there is a proper presumption that something is true, anyone seeking to prove its opposite is said to bear the burden of proof. A certain amount of philosophical jockeying ...
capacity
(to, or of)The personal (physical or mental) or legal factors specific to a person that enable them to achieve some legal outcome such as making a will, voting or ...
causation
N.The relationship between an act and the consequences it produces. It is one of the elements that must be proved before an accused can be convicted of a crime in which the effect of the act is part ...
conspiracy
N.1 An agreement between two or more people to behave in a manner that will automatically constitute an offence by at least one of them (e.g. two people agree that one of them shall steal while the ...
controlled drugs
Drugs, usually those with the potential to cause addiction and dependence, that can only be prescribed under guidelines laid down in law.
corporate culture
The culture of an organization, perhaps influenced by its founder, dominant group, history, structure and systems, leadership, and management style. It is often described as ‘the way we do things ...
crime
Crime doesn't pay a US slogan particularly associated with the 1930s radio crime series The Shadow, in which it was spoken by The Shadow at the end of each broadcast, and with the cartoon detective ...
criminal law
In Anglo‐Saxon and Norman England, there was no distinction between criminal and civil law. Violence, or the causing of damage or harm to another's person or property, was subject to savage penalties ...
defamation
(law) A public statement about individuals, products, groups, or organizations which is untrue and may cause them harm. Termed libel if in written form and slander if spoken.
doctrine of recent possession
The ‘doctrine of recent possession’ is a misnomer as it is not a doctrine and does not refer to recent possession—it refers to possession of property that has been recently stolen. The ‘doctrine’ is ...
duress
N.Pressure, especially actual or threatened physical force, put on a person to act in a particular way. Acts carried out under duress usually have no legal effect; for example, a contract obtained by ...
felony murder rule
A common law doctrine, enshrined in legislation in all Australian jurisdictions apart from the Model Criminal Code jurisdictions of the ACT, NT and the Commonwealth, which increases a charge of ...
guilt
The determination of criminal responsibility by a court. In order for the accused to be found guilty the prosecution must prove all the elements of the crime beyond reasonable doubt ...
guilty knowledge
The knowledge of facts or circumstances required for a person to have * mens rea for a particular crime. Knowledge is usually actual knowledge, but when a person deliberately ignores facts that are ...
