Actus Reus

Review & Background Actus Reus: o Guilty act; prohibited act; bad act o Broadly defined by Criminal Code o Broadly interpreted by judges o For conviction in criminal and regulatory law ! Crown must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused committed prohibited act o One element of two ! Must be combined with Mens Rea Codifying The Prohibited Act Codification o Conviction rarely flows from common law (judge made law) o Must be an act prohibited by statute or regulation ! Criminal CODE of Canada Ideal of predetermined, codified law o Citizen know what acts are illegal o BUT Broad definition and interpretation make this difficult, if not impossible to achieve o Is codification enough? ! What if you just didnt know about that law? Ignorance of the law o Not a valid defense!

R v Molis
But how some statutes are passed raises questions about the constitutionality of law ! Legislators WANT an ignorant public ! Entrapment ! Ex. G20 secret law o Codifying the Prohibited act ! June 26-27, 2010 ! Leaders of 20 countries meet in Toronto ! 1100+ arrested: largest mass arrest in Canadian history ! Public Works Protection Act, 1939 Meant to protect public buildings during war Passed June 2, 2010; no debate Publicized July 2, 2010 Criminal Liability A. Actus Reus + Mens Rea Simultaneous principle o Coincidence of Actus Reus and Mens Rea (guilty deed & guilty mind) ! Not as simple as it may seem ! Need not have intent throughout act o

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Ex. Hit X with intent to kill X then throw X over the cliff; and later X dies later of exposure you are still guilty of killing X

R v Cooper Negligence departs from this principle Fail to repair an oil digging rig, which leads to spill

B. Causation o If the criminal act leads to the prohibited result o Broadly defined by the federal Parliament o Not all causation issues are codified o Thin Skull Rule: take victims as they are Test of causation: o Must establish if accuseds actions were the significant contributing case ! What is significant? What is not trivial? Impaired driver kills jaywalker: impaired driving does not lead to jaywalking, jaywalking is the most significant contributing cause, therefore jaywalker is held responsible o Concept: de minimis o Must be established beyond a reasonable doubt

R v Nette
C. Omission Failure to Act o Must establish if inaction is the prohibited act o Criminal law prohibits bad act doesnt usually require good acts o Legal duties in Criminal Code s 215: parent, spouse, or guardian with duty to provide necessaries of life o Failure to execute these duties could lead to manslaughter or criminal negligence charge

R v Naglik
D. Voluntariness Voluntary act o Act must be voluntary for there to be Actus Reus o Establishes minimum mental or fault element ! Involuntary conduct as defence Ex. Voluntariness of human trafficking Recap Defining prohibited acts o Codification and its limits (ignorance) Connection between guilty mind and bad act o Simultaneous principle Test of causation; what is significant Omission Failure to act

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