1. LIABILITY IN CRIME CLu3M: Unit 3 Criminal Law

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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