mens rea, in Anglo-American law, criminal intent or evil mind. In general, the definition of a criminal offense involves not only an act or omission and its consequences but also the accompanying mental state of the actor. All criminal systems require an element of criminal intent for most crimes.
In criminal law, mens rea (/ ˈmɛnz ˈreɪə /; Law Latin for " guilty mind " [1]) is the mental state of a defendant who is accused of committing a crime. In common law jurisdictions, most crimes require proof both of mens rea and actus reus ("guilty act") before the defendant can be found guilty.
Mens rea refers to criminal intent. The literal translation from Latin is " guilty mind." The plural of mens rea is mentes reae. Mens rea is the state of mind statutorily required in order to convict a particular defendant of a particular crime.
mens rea | Wex | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute
Mens rea defined and explained with examples. Mens rea refers to an person's knowledge that his conduct is criminal, or to having criminal intent.
Mens rea is the Latin term for “guilty mind,” and it refers to the mental state a prosecutor must prove to convict you of most crimes. The Model Penal Code breaks criminal intent into four levels: purpose, knowledge, recklessness, and negligence.
The meaning of MENS REA is criminal intent. How to use mens rea in a sentence.
Mens rea, a person's awareness of the fact that his or her conduct is criminal, is the mental element, and actus reus, the act itself, is the physical element.