Тopic 6. Elements of Crime.

Definition and Overview (USA example)

Topic 6

1. Mens rea as the mental intention (mental fault).

2. Conduct (Actus reus) as the act
or an unlawful omission of an act.
3. Concurrence.
4. Causation.
 When a criminal act is
committed, the law requires certain
basic elements to be proven before
a person can be found guilty.

The elements of a crime refer to the facts that must be established in

order to prove criminal liability.
 The Code of Laws of the
United States of America
(variously abbreviated to Code
of Laws of the United States,
United States Code, U.S. Code,
U.S.C., or USC) is the official
compilation and codification
of the general and permanent
federal statutes of the United
States.
 U.S. Code: Title 18. CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE

PART I—CRIMES (§§ 1 – 2725)

PART II—CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (§§ 3001 – 3772)
PART III—PRISONS AND PRISONERS (§§ 4001 – 4353)
PART IV—CORRECTION OF YOUTHFUL OFFENDERS (§§ 5001 – 5042)
PART V—IMMUNITY OF WITNESSES (§§ 6001 – 6005)

Example:
§ 1841. Protection of unborn children
(1) Whoever engages in conduct that violates any of the provisions of law listed in
subsection (b) and thereby causes the death of, or bodily injury (as defined in section
1365) to, a child, who is in utero at the time the conduct takes place, is guilty of a
separate offense under this section.
(2)
(A) Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, the punishment for that separate
offense is the same as the punishment provided under Federal law for that conduct had
that injury or death occurred to the unborn child’s mother.
Example (US Code):

§ 1841. Protection of unborn children

(B) An offense under this section does not require proof that—
(i) the person engaging in the conduct had knowledge or should have had knowledge
that the victim of the underlying offense was pregnant; or

(ii) the defendant intended to cause the death of, or bodily injury to, the unborn child.
(C) If the person engaging in the conduct thereby intentionally kills or attempts to
kill the unborn child, that person shall instead of being punished under subparagraph
(A), be punished as provided under sections 1111, 1112, and 1113 of this title for
intentionally killing or attempting to kill a human being.

(D) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the death penalty shall not be
imposed for an offense under this section.
Criminal code of Ukraine:

Article 67. Circumstances aggravating punishment

1. For the purposes of imposing a punishment, the following circumstances shall be

deemed to be aggravating:
(1) repetition of an offense or recidivism;
(2) the commission of an offense by a group of persons upon prior conspiracy
(paragraph 2 or 3 of Article 28);
(3) the commission of an offense based on racial, national or religious enmity and
hostility;
(4) the commission of an offense in connection with the discharge of official or
public duty by the victim;
(5) grave consequences caused by the offense;
(6) the commission of an offense against a minor, an elderly or helpless person;
(7) the commission of an offense against a woman who, to the knowledge of the
culprit, was pregnant….
Trigger – провоцировать.
 1. Mens rea as the mental intention (mental fault)

The correct elements of a crime need to be connected together in order to

establish criminal liability, that is, to prove that a defendant is guilty of
breaking the law.

In general, in US criminal legislation a crime consists of four elements :

- a mental state;
- conduct;
- concurrence (узгодженість) ;
- causation.

Crimes are defined by statutes, which are laws passed by legislatures.

Statutes set forth the specific elements of each crime. Not all crimes are the
same, as the statutes dictate which elements constitute a given crime.
Statutory Elements of a Crime

Every crime has required elements, which must be proven beyond a

reasonable doubt to be considered a crime.
''Statutory elements'' are found in the written law. For every crime, are four
unwritten basic elements that need to be proven, just like their written
counterparts. These element are different from legislation to legislation (in
Ukraine, USA, India…)

For example, larceny (theft), which has the following statutory elements:

1.The taking of another's property

2.Without the consent of the owner
3.With the intent to deprive the owner of the property.

No crime exists without all the statutory elements.

 18 U.S. Code CHAPTER 31 EMBEZZLEMENT
(emˈbezəlmənt, привласнення майна)
AND THEFT

• § 641. Public money, property or records

• § 642. Tools and materials for counterfeiting purposes
• § 643. Accounting generally for public money
• § 644. Banker receiving unauthorized deposit of public money
• § 645. Court officers generally
• § 646. Court officers depositing registry moneys
• § 647. Receiving loan from court officer
• § 648. Custodians, generally, misusing public funds
• § 649. Custodians failing to deposit moneys; persons affected
• § 650. Depositaries failing to safeguard deposits
• § 651. Disbursing officer falsely certifying full payment
• § 652. Disbursing officer paying lesser in lieu of lawful amount
• § 653. Disbursing officer misusing public funds
• § 654. Officer or employee of United States converting property of another
• § 655. Theft by bank examiner
• § 656. Theft, embezzlement, or misapplication by bank officer or employee
СС of Ukraine Chapter VI. CRIMINAL OFFENSES AGAINST PROPERTY

Article 185. Theft

1. A covert stealing of somebody else's property (theft), -

shall be punishable by a fine up to 50 tax-free minimum incomes, or
correctional labor for a term up to two years, or imprisonment for a term up to
three years.

2. Theft, if repeated or committed by a group of persons upon their prior

conspiracy, -
shall be punishable by restraint of liberty for a term up to five years, or
imprisonment for the same term.
 Mens rea (/ˈmɛnz ˈriːə/; Law Latin for
"guilty mind") is the mental element of a
person's intention to commit a crime;

or knowledge that one's action or lack

of action would cause a crime to be
committed.

It is a necessary element of many crimes.

Culpability- винність
Blameworthiness- звинувачення
Concurrence - узгодженість
 2. Conduct (Actus reus) as the act
or an unlawful omission of an act

Sometimes, there is a discussion about whether a crime was committed, and

you may have heard the phrase 'actus reus' used by the main characters when
discussing the case.

When a person commits a crime, there are physical acts

that make up elements of the crime. These physical acts,
or a failure to act, constitute the actus reus of the crime.
In fact, the literal translation of 'actus reus' from the
original Latin is 'guilty act.‘
In order for a person to be charged with a crime, the
actus reus of the crime must have occurred. If there is no
actus reus, then no crime was committed.
 There are crimes where the actus reus of the crime is the actual crime
itself. In other words, all that needs to be demonstrated is that the act
occurred, regardless of the defendant having a 'mens rea,' or 'guilty mind.'
3. Concurrence

This means that actus

reus and mens rea must
exist simultaneously.
4. Causation
Causation

The concurrence of the actus

reus and mens rea must have been
the factual and legal cause of the
harm at the heart of the crime.

Criminal Causation
Causation has two parts: factual
and legal.
Factual causation means that
the act and the harm are directly
connected.
The law requires the legal
causation exist as well.
Insanity - неосудність
Thank You for attention!)