actus reus

     

The actus reus — sometimes calle the external element or the objective element of a crime — is the Latin term for the "guilty act" which, when proved beyond a reasonable doubt in combination with the mens rea, i.e., the "guilty mind", produces criminal liability in common law-based criminal law jurisdictions Canada, Australia, New Zealand, England, Scotland and the United States. In the United States, some crimes also require proof of an attendant circumstance.

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