Concurrence - Discussion

Discussion

Suppose for example that, by accident while driving, the accused injures a pedestrian. Aware of the collision, the accused rushes from the car only to find that the victim is a hated enemy. At this point, the accused jumps up and down with joy proclaiming how pleased they are to have caused this injury. The conventional rule is that no crime has been committed. The actus reus is complete and no rule of ratification applies in the Criminal Law, i.e. whereas in the Law of Agency a Principal may retrospectively adopt a transaction as if they had originally authorised the Agent to conclude an agreement with the Third Party and so acquires liability under that agreement, an alleged criminal cannot retrospectively adopt an actus reus and acquire guilt. To be convicted, the accused must have formed the mens rea either before or during the commission of the actus reus and, in the vast majority of cases, this rule works without difficulty.

Two Types of Concurrence in Criminal Law:

  1. Temporal Concurrence - the actus reus and mens rea occur at the same time.
  2. Motivational Concurrence - the mens rea motivates the actus reus.

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