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Preferred term

criminal defenses  

Definition

  • In the Anglo American system of criminal justice, most crimes have at least two minimum elements: actus reus, the criminal act or omission, and mens rea, the required mental state (the so-called guilty mind). In the crime of murder, for example, taking the life of another human being is the criminal act (actus reus). [Source: Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment; Criminal Defenses]

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https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/criminal_defenses

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