Punishment Responsibility

Men’s rea generally refers to the mental perception of a crime and engages the knowledge and intention of the accused person in committing them the said offence. This element of law delves into the knowledge and intention of the accused and must be proved in criminal law to hold the suspect liable for the offence. Morality is however relative and it generally denotes what is right or wrong and bad or good and sometimes this depends on the society where one comes from.it is on the discretion of the lawyers to prove that the accused was on the right state of mind when the alleged offense was committed.

A guilty mind to commit a crime is an essential factor for consideration and this must be proved by the prosecution failure to which one is acquitted. Did the offender had the intention of committing the alleged crime is a question the prosecution must answer in criminal cases. Ignorance is not a defense and failing to remember a crime is not an excuse in criminal proceedings. Prior to trial the jury must ascertain that the one on trial is mentally stable for him to answer to question and if not, then psychiatric services will be involved for the case to proceed.

Men’s rea principal ensures that one is morally responsible in the society as acts such as negligence that cause harm to others in the society makes one to be liable. A case in point is when one digs a hole and leaves it uncovered causing the death of another person. Prosecution must prove that were it not the action of the accused to leave the hole uncovered then the deceased would have not met his death. This reason instills responsibility in the society as people must be held responsible for their actions.

Morally, men’s rea faces criticism. A case in point is when one is held culpable for crimes that he did not have the ability to discern. Accused incarcerated for defiling a minor who did not disclose her age prior to the offence is one of the incidences. The accused did not have the intention of raping because the minor did not disclose her age or sometimes lied about it. One selling alcohol to underage school going children whom he never had the ability to determine their age and forcing them to so amounts to invasion of privacy is also an example of these incidences. Some of these incidences make victims to sound like they are the ones who commited most of the offenses they are offended with.

Cultures literally dictates morality in almost all societies. But some cultural aspects have been deemed illegal like female genital mutilation. This poses a dilemma in the legal field as culturally it is right to circumcise but this threatens the life of the woman and in most countries it is illegal. The accused do not have the ill motive to harm to the woman but it is a crime and in some cases the victim dies out of the process. This makes the person to be blameworthy hence responsible for the crime although he never had the intention of committing the alleged offence.

It is important to note that moral blameworthiness is a question that continues to perplex most scholars across the board. Norrie explains that moral blameworthiness  portends the moral reasoning of an individual of a person in committing the said offence and one becomes liable if it is proved to be committing must prove existence of malice which in most cases taken to mean the intention to commit the alleged crime and this is an upheaval task for the prosecution.mens rea principle entails confirming whether the accused meant to commit the crime.

This principle ensures that the accused is held responsible for the crimes committed and is sentenced for the crimes committed. Punishment meted on the guilty person is therefore worthy of the crime committed and this should be felt both by the jury and the judge to be fair. The mantra in the justice system is that justice should not only be done but must also be seen to have been done by the different parties interested in the case. Morally this calls for responsibility from the public in conducting their day to day transactions as any mishap leads to prosecution and subsequent sentencing.

Men’s rea ensures that people act in the best interest of others and anything that hurts another person calls for actin from the authorities. realist posits, human nature is bad and this calls for law that tames their actions intended to hurt others and in this case men’s rea principle come in handy. When one causes a crime a crime without having the intention to do so then he is not culpable as this principle dictates that it is not right to nail somebody for something prove that his actions caused arm to the other which he did with prior knowledge of the situation. He never had the intention of committing. When the accused is held accountable for his actions then society is morally responsible as kit is the responsibility of any society to inculcate norms in her people. Punishment meted on the guilty person is therefore worthy of the crime committed and this should be felt both by the jury and the judge to be fair. The mantra in the justice system is that justice should not only be done but must also be seen to have been done by the different parties interested in the case. Morally this calls for responsibility from the public in conducting their day to day transactions as any mishap leads to prosecution and subsequent sentencing.

It is noted by Norrie that men’s rea faces criticism (Norrie 122). A case in point noted above is when one is held culpable for crimes that he did not have the ability to discern. Accused incarcerated for defiling a minor who did not disclose her age prior to the offence is one of the incidences. The accused did not have the intention of raping because the minor did not disclose her age or sometimes lied about it.

Morality is however relative and it generally denotes what is right or wrong and bad or good and sometimes this depends on the society where one comes from.it is on the discretion of the lawyers to prove that the accused was on the right state of mind when the alleged offence was committed. The best case to demonstrate this scenario is

It is further noted by Norrie that morality so much to do with hos an individual is raised socially (123). The mantra in the justice system is that justice should not only be done but must also be seen to have been done by the different parties interested in the case. Morally this calls for responsibility from the public in conducting their day to day transactions as any mishap leads to prosecution and subsequent sentencing. Accused incarcerated for defiling a minor who did not disclose her age prior to the offence is one of the incidences. The accused did not have the intention of raping because the minor did not disclose her age or sometimes lied about it. One selling alcohol to underage school going children whom he never had the ability to determine their age and forcing them to so amounts to invasion of privacy is also an example of these incidences.

Works Cited

Norrie, Alan. “Punishment, responsibility, and justice: A relational critique.” (2010).