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4. Criminal LiabilityEach specific offence has its elements that the prosecutionmust prove before the defendantcan

be found guilty. All proved elements produce criminal liabilityof the defendant.

The principal elements of an offence that must be proven are (1) physical element known as

actus reus(2) mental elementknown asmens rea. The first element indicates that an offenceactually occurred and the second that the accused intended the offence to happen. The actusreus and mens reaare the Latin terms for guilty act (actus reus) and guilty mind (men rea),

and the basic principle in proving criminal liability is Actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea,

which means that "the act does not make a person guilty unless the mind is also guilty". Thus, injurisdictions with due process, there must be an actus reusaccompanied by some level of mens

reato constitute the offence with which the defendant is charged. The exception is strict liability

offences for which liability may be imposed without proving mens rea (e.g. offences relating to

the production and marketing of food, offences relating to road traffic).

The prosecution must prove the guilt of the defendant beyond reasonable doubt, that isthe

standard of proof required in criminal cases. This means that if the judge or jury judging theoffence doubt the guilt of the defendant and have a reason for this doubt, the guilt of the

defendant cannot be proven.

5. Criminal Penalties

There are several kinds of penalties available to the courts in England and Wales. The mostimportant of them are absolute and conditional discharge, fine, community sentence, custodial

sentence (imprisonment) and compensation order (see the Powers of Criminal Courts

(Sentencing) Act 2000; the Criminal Justice Act 2003). The sentence depends on the type, the

seriousness and the circumstances of the offence and the maximum penalty available by law.

The most lenient punishment is discharge of the offender. This order is imposed when the court

deems that punishment would not be appropriate and the experience has been enough of adeterrent. The court may discharge the offender absolutely or conditionally. In the latter case, the

offender is released on the condition that he/she does not commit any offence within a period

specified by court.

The next level of punishment is a fine a money penalty payable to the state. It is the most

common criminal penalty widely used for summary offences and some indictable offences. The

leading principle deciding the amount of the fine is that it should reflect the seriousness of theoffence and the offenders ability to pay.

A community sentence combines punishment with changing offenders behaviour and making

amendssometimes directly to the victim of the crime. It is a generic sentence introduced by theCriminal Justice Act 2003 in place of different sentences available previously (such as

community service order, probation order, curfew order etc.). When imposing a community

sentence, the court is able to choose different requirements to make up a community order which

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is relevant to the particular offender and the offence he/she committed. The range of the

requirements available include:

(a) an unpaid work requirement order to do up to 300 hours of unpaid work on localcommunity projects under close supervision;

(b) a programme requirement order to attend a group or individual programme designed to

address the activities and patterns of behaviour that contribute to committing crime;(c) a curfew requirementorder to stay indoors, usually at home, for a certain period; electronicmonitoring (tagging) may be used to control the offender; etc.

The highest level of punishment is custodial sentence (imprisonment). Before imposing acustodial sentence the court must be satisfied that the offence was so serious that neither a fine

nor a community sentence can be justified. In determining the length of a custodial sentence,

courts are bound to take account of aggravating and mitigating factors and of previous

convictions. Custodial sentences of less than one year may be imposed, but suspended for aperiod of up to two years, during which time the court may order the offender to comply with

one or more requirements available for community sentences. Breach of the conditions may

result in activation of the whole or part of the custodial sentence. The actual length of imposedcustodial sentences depends on release arrangements. Offenders serving standard determinate

custodial sentences of 12 months or more are released after serving half of their sentence, but are

then on licence (parole), i.e. may be recalled at any time until the expiry of the full sentence if

they break the imposed conditions or commit a further offence. For offenders assessed asdangerous release arrangements are different. These offenders are subject to assessment by the

Parole Board and are not released from prison until and unless their level of risk to the public is

assessed by the Parole Board as manageable in the community.