Mens rea
Mens rea is another Latin phrase， meaning“guilty mind”. A guilty mind means an intention to commit some wrongful act. Intention under criminal law is separate from a person s motive. If A robs from rich B because his motive is to give the money to poor C， his“good intentions”do not change his criminal intention to commit robbery.
A lower threshold of mens rea is satisfied when a defendant recognises an act is dangerous but decides to commit it anyway. This is recklessness. Courts often consider whether the actor did recognize the danger， or alternatively ought to have recognised a risk. Of course， a requirement only thatone ought to have recognized a danger （ though he did not） is tantamountto erasing intentas a requirement. In this way， the importance of mens rea has been reduced in some areas of the criminal law.
Wrongfulness of intent also may vary the seriousness of an offense. A killing committed with specific intent to kill or with conscious recognition that death or serious bodily harm will result， would be murder， whereas a killing effected by reckless acts lacking such a consciousness could be manslaughter. On the other hand， it matters not who is actually harmed through a defendant s actions. The doctrine of transferred malice means， for instance， that if a man intends to strike a person with his belt， but the belt bounces off and hits another， mens rea is transferred from the intended target to the person who actually was struck.
An injury or result
A crime consists of a specific injury or a wrong perpetrated by one person against another. The crime may harm society at large， such as selling military secrets to a foreign government， or the injury may be inflicted upon an individual and， because of its nature， is considered to offend society as a whole. The nature of the injury， as with mens rea， often determines the nature of the crime itself. For example， consider two drivers who have been cutting each other off in traffic. Finally they both stop their cars and come out fighting. Suppose one of them hits the other so hard he dies. The crime may be murder （ of some degree） . If the man does not die but suffers serious bodily harm， the crime is aggravated assault. If the injury is minor， the charge may be simple assault. Because the nature of the injury often determines the offense， it is frequently asserted that the nature of the injury is the key legal element of the crime.
Some actions may be criminal even though no injury is actually inflicted. Most crimes of criminal conspiracy fall into this category. For instance， if several persons were to plan to assassinate a judge or to bribe jurors in an attempt to keep a criminal from being convicted， the crime would be conspiracy to obstruct justice. This would be a crime even if the judge went unharmed and no money was ever passed to the jurors. All that is required is that the crime be planned and intended and that some specific， overt act be taken by one of the conspirators in furtherance of their plan（ such as the purchase of a weapon or possession of a map of the route that the judge takes between his home and the courtroom） .
offense / fens/n.犯罪，过错
offender / fend /n.冒犯者；违法者；罪犯
execution / eksi kjun/n.死刑
retribution / retri bjun/n.报应；惩罚
deterrence /di ter ns/n.威慑
incapacitation / ink p si tein/n.无能力；使无能力；使无资格
rehabilitation / ri h bili tein/n.修复，复原
inflict /inflikt/vt.给予（打击等） ；使遭受（损伤、
痛苦等） ；造成
detriment / detrim nt/n.损害；损害物；伤害
contravene / k ntr vi n/vt.违反；抵触；反驳
surrender /s rend /vt.放弃；交出；使投降
restitution / resti tjun/n.恢复；归还；赔偿
embezzle /imbezl/vt. &；； vi.盗用；挪用；贪污
nullify / n lifai/vt.使无效，作废；取消
vulnerable / v ln r bl/adj.有弱点的；易受伤害的；易受攻击的
recklessness / reklisnis/n.鲁莽；轻率；不顾一切，不顾后果
tantamount / t nt maunt/adj.同等的；相当于？？的
manslaughter / m nsl t /n.杀人； [律]一般杀人罪；过失杀人
perpetrate / p pitreit/vt.犯（罪） ；做（恶）
aggravated /gr veitid/adj.加重的；恶化的
overt / uv t/adj.明显的；公然的； [律]蓄意的
cri m i nall aw /penall aw刑法
cri m i nalpuni shm ent刑罚
com m i t offense违法
pri son sentence监禁
death penal ty死刑
state authori ty国家权力机关
actus reus （gui l ty act）犯罪行为
m ens rea （gui l ty m i nd）犯罪意图；犯意
1.arole or probation （假释或缓刑） ： Parole may have different meanings depending on he field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole， eaning“（ spoken） word”. Following its use in late-medieval Anglo-French chivalric ractice， the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners iving their word of honor to abide by certain restrictions. Parole should not be confused ith probation， as parole is serving the remainder of a sentence outside of prison， where robation is given instead of a prison sentence and as such， tends to place more rigid bligations upon the individual serving the term.
2. riminal justice （刑事司法） ： Criminal justice is the system of practices and institutions f governments directed at upholding social control， deterring and mitigating crime， and anctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts.
3.mission （不作为） ： In the criminal law， an omission， or failure to act， will constitute n actus reus and give rise to liability only when the law imposes a duty to act and the efendant is in breach of that duty.
4.uty of care （注意义务） ： A duty of care is a legal obligation imposed on an individual
requiring that they adhere to a standard of reasonable care while performing any acts that could foreseeably harm others. It is the first element that must be established to proceed with an action in negligence.
5.ood Samaritan laws （ （美）好撒马利亚人法） ： Good Samaritan laws are laws or acts rotecting from liability those who choose to aid others who are injured or ill. They are ntended to reduce bystanders hesitation to assist， for fear of being sued or prosecuted for unintentional injury or wrongful death.
