LIABILITY IN CRIME

CLu3M: Unit 3 Criminal Law

Regulatory Crime
For some less serious offences, the Crown does not have

to establish mens rea to win a conviction

These offences are called regulatory laws These are federal and provincial statutes that are meant

to protect the public welfare

Ex.- environmental protection laws, workplace safety

laws, hunting and fishing laws and traffic offences such as speeding

Regulatory Crime
To pass regulatory offences the legislators will not use any

mens rea terminology (such as intentionally or willfully)

If you do not see any mens rea words within the criminal

code offence it is not required for the Crown to prove

Offences that do not require mens rea are grouped into

two labels:
Strict liability offences Absolute liability offences

Strict Liability Offences

These type of offences do not require a mens rea element However anyone accused of a strict liability offence can offer the

defence of due diligence

This means that he or she took every reasonable precaution to avoid

committing the offence in question

Environmental pollution laws are an example of this Ex. A company (Bergman Waste Disposal) is charged with polluting a

river. My lawyers show that I have spent several million dollars over five years installing monitoring systems and training staff to avoid runoff from my company
This is due diligence- the judge would agree that the company did

everything they could to have lessened the pollution

Absolute Liability Offences

For these offences there is no defence possible Once the Crown has shown that the wrongful act took

place and the accused was responsible for it, they will be found guilty
Driving without a licence, speeding are examples of this

*because there is no defence, technically this is a

violation of rights, so the SCC has ruled that for absolute liability offences there is no jail time