The Nature of Crime

The Nature of Crime What constitutes a crime and a criminal offence

Defining Crime and Criminal Offences What is a crime? • an act or an omission of an act that is prohibited and punishable by federal statute What is an omission of an act? • some crimes are not the acts that you commit but rather the failure to act in certain situations

Omission of an Act A six foot tall expert swimmer sits by the side of a five foot tall pool and heartily enjoys watching a four foot tall child drown. Is this person committing a crime?

Omission of an Act The person is not committing any crime by his omission (assuming he / she isn't the lifeguard, of course). The usual reasoning behind this is that people should be punished only for deliberately adding to human misery, not for being indifferent towards it. Also, in many situations where coming to another's aid might put the rescuer at risk, there is far too much difficulty in ascertaining at what exact point the risk to the rescuer becomes too great to incur criminal liability.

Omission of An Act However, when statute specifically requires action on the part of a citizen, saying "I didn't do any harm" is not enough. If a father watches his child drown in a shallow pool and does nothing, he may be guilty of homicide on account of the responsibility he holds for his child's life.

Omission of an Act Failing to: pay taxes child support, and alimony are a few recognizable examples of omission

Conditions for a Crime in Canada Whether an act or omission, • the act is considered wrong by society • the act causes harm to society in general or to those (such as minors) who need protection • the harm must be serious • the remedy must be handled by the criminal justice system

Changes to Wrongs Time and place can lead to changes in what is considered wrong Prostitution legal in some European countries but not here Adultery was a criminal offence in Canada, but not anymore Theft they used to hang people for simple theft

Criminal Law Crimes are considered offences against not only against the direct victim of the crime, but against the public, or society as a whole

Criminal Law Someone steals an iPod from an electronics store. Who is affected by this crime?

Criminal Law The owner of the store is affected Raises prices to compensate for merchandise Customers pay more Have less money for other things

Criminal Law Crime affects everyone, so the government has to investigate and act against those who commit crimes Criminal law is the body of laws that prohibit and punish acts that injure people, property, and the entire community

Criminal Law What do the laws do? • Protect people and property • Maintain order • Preserve standards of public decency

Elements of a Crime To convict someone of a crime, Crown has to prove two things existed at the time the offence was committed: 1.the act itself 2. the intention to commit the act These elements are referred to as actusreusand mensrea

Actus Reus “The guilty act”; shows a voluntary action, omission, or state of being that is prohibited by law The physical act involved in committing the offence described by the criminal law

Actus Reus You have an argument with a friend. You then proceed to strike your friend in the face This is the criminal act of assault; s. 265(1)(a) in the Criminal Code You commit a wrongful act (actusreus) of assault when “without the consent of another person, he applies force intentionally to that person, directly or indirectly”

Actus Reus In most cases, a criminal act must be completed to qualify as an offence If you only thought of striking your friend, but he / she saw you were angry and ran away before you could hit or threaten him / her, you would not be guilty of assault

Actus Reus and Omission Failing to do something can be considered a wrongful act New (and by definition inexperienced) parents do not give their baby enough to eat Baby dies of malnutrition S. 215(1) says those parents can be charged with failure to provide their baby with the necessities of life

Actus Reus and State of Being Your friend says that he / she has a MacBook in his / her car that he / she no longer needs. He / she says you can have it You later find out the MacBook was stolen during a home invasion Being in possession of stolen goods is an offence where the wrongful act is a state of being

Actus Reus and State of Being Being in possession of break-in tools = State of Being Being found in a gaming or betting house = State of Being

Final Words on Actus Reus Actusreus has to be voluntary, not forced by someone else I threaten you to commit a robbery is not a voluntary act You are sleepwalking and commit an offence = no actusreus Reflex reactions = no actusreus

Mens Rea Accompanies actusreus means “the guilty mind” implies moral guilt; accused person deliberately did something he / she knew to be wrong with reckless disregard for the consequences have to have the intent to commit an offence or knowledge to know it was against the law

Intent Intent = meant to do something wrong, recklessly regarding the consequences, and knew or should have foreseen the results wilfully or intentionally are words that show intent assault was defined as “applies force intentionally” intentionally shows the mensrea of assault

Intent General intent: person commits a wrongful act with no other motive or purpose Ryan struck JFost because he was angry with him and wanted to vent his anger physically His general intent was to assault JFost How would the Crown establish mensrea? Simply prove Ryan struck JFost

Intent Specific Intent = the commission of one wrongful act in order to accomplish another Let’s look at s. 343(c) in the Criminal Code “Every one commits robbery who assaults any person with intent to steal from him” What does this mean?

Intent Ryan struck JFost. What if Ryan had struck him in order to take his iPod? If this was the case, then Ryan committed assault for the sake of accomplishing a theft How does the Crown prove mensrea to commit robbery? Has to show that Ryan not only assaulted JFost, but that his specific intent was to steal from him

Intent General intent is easier to prove than specific intent Could explain why the Crown prosecutes for manslaughter (unplanned homicide and a general intent offence) instead of murder (planned and deliberate homicide and a specific intent offence)

Intent This gives rise to the great drunkenness defence “Your Honour, I was too drunk to have committed…” Specific intent is harder to prove if you were intoxicated or impaired at the time

Motive vs. Intent Don’t confuse motive and intent Motive is your reason for committing a crime Intent is your state of mind and willingness to break the law If you kill someone for money, money is the motive. The Crown must prove intent by showing the crime was “planned and deliberate”

Knowledge Mensrea can be shown if the Crown can prove the accused had knowledge of certain facts The fake license s.368(1)(a) of the Criminal Code states: “Every one who, knowing that a document is forged, uses, deals or acts upon it” is guilty of the offence of circulating a forged document

Knowledge Crown only needs to prove you knew the fake license was forged Does not need to show either general or specific intent

Criminal Negligence Mensrea can exist if the accused showed negligence Accused failed to take precautions that any reasonable person would take to avoid causing harm to another

Criminal Negligence s.219(1) defines Criminal Negligence as: someone who • in doing anything, or • in omitting to do anything that it is his duty to do, shows wanton or reckless disregard for the lives or safety of other persons

Criminal Negligence Proper storage of guns (leaving them in places where children could access them) Mensrea here is “wanton or reckless disregard”

Recklessness Involves taking an unjustifiable risk that a reasonable person would not take Driving without prescription glasses Crown could prove you had the necessary intent to commit a crime because you behaved recklessly

Wilful Blindness Deliberately closing your mind to the possible consequences of your actions Wilfully blind when you don’t ask a question because you don’t want to know the truth The stolen computer with the “N.B. Ed” tag on it Wilfully blind to the fact that it was likely stolen

Strict and Absolute Liability Looking at regulatory laws environmental protection, workplace safety, hunting and fishing regulations, traffic offences Many have words wilfully or with intent written into them Means that mensrea is not required

Strict and Absolute Liability Strict Liability: the offence does not require mensrea but the accused can offer the defence of due diligence Due diligence is taking every reasonable precaution to avoid committing the offence Many environmental pollution offences are strict liability

Strict and Absolute Liability Absolute Liability: There is no defence possible. Crown proves the offence took place and the accused was responsible, the court must assign guilt Driving with no license or speeding Absolute liability means only a fine, no prison time

The Nature of Crime