In
jurisprudence
Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...
, () is the subjective
state of mind of the perpetrator of a
crime
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...
, with reference to the exact knowledge of illegal content of his behaviour, and of its possible consequences.
In most modern legal systems, the is required as an essential condition to give a penal condemnation.
The is usually demonstrated by the verified presence of these elements:
*knowledge of a law that prohibited the discussed action or conduct (unless there exists a systemic obligation, pending on every citizen, that considers that the law has to be known by every adult — in this case the knowledge is presumed ; see also );
*knowledge of the most likely consequences of his action;
*precise intention of breaking the law or of causing the verified effects of the action.
When the author of the crime had no , it is usually considered that the crime still exists, but the author is innocent, unless a responsibility for
guilt can be found in his conduct: the typical case of a car accident in which a wrong or even hazardous manoeuvre causes personal injuries to another car driver, is then managed as a crime for the presence of injuries, yet the author will not be prosecuted as the author of the injuries (he did not want to hurt the other driver, thus he had no ), but simply as the author of a dangerous conduct that indirectly caused said effects, and would be held responsible at a guilt title.
The is often absent in people with
mental illness
A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...
, and in front of such people, a psychiatric expertise is usually required to verify the eventual . Minors too are in many systems considered little capable of a correct knowledge about the meaning or the consequences of their actions, and this is the reason for the common reduction of the passive capability of punishment they usually can receive.
A particular case of is the (), describing the of a person who willfully kills another human being. Establishment of is necessary to prove
murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...
or
voluntary manslaughter
Voluntary manslaughter is the killing of a human in which the offender acted in the heat of passion, a state that would cause a reasonable person to become emotionally or mentally disturbed to the point that they cannot reasonably control thei ...
as opposed to
involuntary manslaughter
Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...
.
See also
*''
Mens rea
In criminal law, (; Law Latin for "guilty mind") is the mental state of a defendant who is accused of committing a crime. In common law jurisdictions, most crimes require proof both of ''mens rea'' and '' actus reus'' ("guilty act") before th ...
''
References
{{Reflist
Criminal law
Latin legal terminology