mens rea
2
9.9
- noun
- /mɛnʊs ˈreɪə/
- Formal
:
dolo
- The emphasis on the mental in our lives, including mens rea in criminal law, is part of what makes us distinctively human beings with moral capacities.
- criminal mens rea
Some seem unrealistic, but perjury requires a very specific Mens Rea that you knowingly state something that is false.
- Some seem unrealistic, but perjury requires a very specific Mens Rea that you knowingly state something that is false.
Examples
-
In addition to intentional action and a general capacity for rationality, criminal culpability also requires that other mental states, mens rea, must explicitly or implicitly be present because such states are what give meaning to bodily movement.
Academic text (2003) -
How can we be guilty when there is no mens rea, no guilty mind, in place?
Academic text (2011) -
I think I can prove to a judge that both of these men had the mens rea.
-
Finally, I turn to the positive case for mens rea.
Academic text (2003) -
I am aware of the meaning of mens rea.
Fiction book (2001) -
As with the true threats doctrine, mens rea is a required element.
Academic text (2017) -
Criminal law has long struggled to define the criminal intent (mens rea) that transforms a harm into a crime.
Academic text (1993) -
In order to prove someone's guilt, the prosecution must establish that he had the mens rea to commit the crime.
-
The judge explained that without mens rea, there can be no conviction in a criminal case.
-
During the trial, the defense argued that the defendant lacked the mens rea necessary for a guilty verdict.
Synonyms
Knowledge that an act is against the law or wrong
How Intentional
417
3.4
- Formal
2
9.9
18
5.2
- Specialized
80
6.5
355
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
mens + rea
This is a Latin legal loanphrase (mens rea) whose parts are not ordinary English words in learners' lexicon, and it functions as a technical legal concept ('guilty mind') rather than a compositional phrase. Because the constituents are non-transparent to typical B1 learners and the meaning is specialized and not derivable from the surface forms, it is opaque.
Etymology
Mens rea comes from Latin and literally means mens 'mind' and rea 'guilty'. It gives the image of a guilty mind — the idea that the law looks at whether a person meant to do wrong, so today it means the intention or knowledge behind a crime.