mens rean.
/ˌmɛnz ˈriːə/, /ˌmɛnz ˈreɪə/, U.S. /ˈˌmɛnz ˈriə/ Criminal Law.
The particular state of mind required to make an action criminal; a criminal state of mind; (more generally) criminal intent.The prosecution must prove mens rea to have existed at the time of an offence in order to secure a conviction.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > intention > [noun] > intention or purpose > criminal
criminal intent1683
mens rea1861
society > law > rule of law > lawlessness > [noun] > crime > criminal intent
purpensed malice1436
malice1454
malice prepensed1454
pretenced malice1483
scienter1618
malice prepense1647
malice propense1650
mala fides1693
malice prepended1833
mens rea1861
1861 E. C. Leigh & W. L. Cave Crown Cases Reserved (1866) 53 The mens rea is an essential ingredient in every offence.
1877 Mind 2 465 Even mens rea, or guilty intention, by itself is not penal, much less an immoral intention.
?1904 W. S. Gilbert Domest. Pantomime ii. 36 In the absence of the mens rea the case comes under neither statute nor common law.
1914 D. A. Stroud Mens Rea i. 14 There is no real contradiction in describing a mere absence of mind as a mens rea or guilty mind.
1955 Times 15 July 11/6 If the customer used it to apply to some other dress she would be guilty of fraud. One is not anxious to multiply criminal offences in which there is no mens rea.
1959 Chambers's Encycl. IV. 241/1 Drunkenness may render the accused incapable of forming the specific intent necessary to commit the crime—when mens rea will not be present and the accused must be acquitted.
1979 W. H. Jennings & T. Zuber Canad. Law (ed. 3) xii. 12 It was generally considered that in order to constitute a crime the forbidden act or omission had to be committed with mens rea (a Latin term meaning a guilty mind).
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1861