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Elements Of A Crime

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Elements of crime
For an act to be termed as a crime omission of a statute should have taken place and
should also be punishable by law. Four elements should exit for an action to be considered a
crime. The act should be seen or recognized by the society as a wrong if the act causes harm to
the community, the damage has severe implications and lastly if the criminal justice system
should handle the act. If someone violates, laws set by the state he or she should be punished for
a criminal act. Violation of social norms of society and religion by causing both psychological
stress and mental damage to a victim is also considered a crime.
For an act to be considered a crime for elements should be considered: conduct, a mental state,
causation, and concurrence. Criminal acts are explained by statutes which involve the laws
passed by legislatures.
Mens Rea: Guilty mental state
Mental state refers to the condition of mind that a defendant has at the moment the crime took
place. Questions like, what was the intention of the defendant when he or she was committing
the crime? The mental state of the defendant should be considered because the defendant can be

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aware of the act. The psychological state of a defendant will depend on the definition in the
statute (Meierhenrich, Jens, 2014).
Actus Reus: Guilty of Conduct
Guilty of conduct or guilty act refers to the illegal action done by a defendant and as a result,
causes harm to the victim. The damage caused can involve physical harm. The guilty of an act
can be satisfied by taking the affirmative action or an omission by the defendant. No punishment
should be imposed on a person for thinking wicked thoughts. For the act to be considered a
crime, there must be standards of proof. The element should have more than one act. Criminal
ideas cannot be punished, but criminal acts can be punished (Sadat, Leila, 2017).
Concurrence
Men's rea and the actus reus generally should occur at the same time; this means that the
intention should coexist or proceed with the action to be termed a crime or even activate the
action. Men's rea can continue to be present until the unlawful act is committed and this is as
long as the men's rea actuated the conduct which produced the act of crime. Nevertheless, for the
criminal act to occur, overt or voluntary action should be there as required by the law or statute
(Meierhenrich, Jens, 2014).
Causation
A lot of crimes involve an element which the real harm must occur. Causation should be proved
for an act to be termed as the crime; the Charging of a person with homicide, serious body
injuries should appear. A causal connection between the result and act should be recognized
because an act cannot take place without the direct participation of the accused. Causation is a

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Insert Surname1 Professor’s name Student’s name Course title Date Elements of crime For an act to be termed as a crime omission of a statute should have taken place and should also be punishable by law. Four elements should exit for an action to be considered a crime. The act should be seen or recognized by the society as a wrong if the act causes harm to the community, the damage has severe implications and lastly if the criminal justice system should handle the act. If someone violates, laws set by the state he or she should be punished for a criminal act. Violation of social norms of society and religion by causing both psychological stress and mental damage to a victim is also considered a crime. For an act to be considered a crime for elements should be considered: conduct, a mental state, causation, and concurrence. Criminal acts are explained by statutes which involve the laws passed by legislatures. Mens Rea: Guilty mental state Mental state refers to the condition of mind that a defendant has at the moment the crime took place. Questions like, what was the intention of the defendant when he or she was committing the crime? The mental state of the defendant should be co ...
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