Strict liability

Strict liability is where actus reus must be present but mens rea is not required for at least one part of the crime.

An example of this is in R V PRINCE where the defendant thought his girlfriend was 18 when really she was 13. The parents of the girl didn't approve the relationship so they ran away to Gretna Green to get married but the defendant was charged with taking an unmarried girl under the age of 16 from her parents will. This was overruled by B V DPP making it no longer a strict liability offence.

The types of strict liability offences are normally statuary offences.

One example of a strict liability offence is REGULATORY OFFENCES…