Key Components of a Crime: 2 Primary Elements of an Offense.

Understanding the legal landscape involves grasping the Components of a Crime, with a focal point on the 2 Main Elements of an Offense.

Key Components of a Crime: An offence is an act or omission of which when committed or made, makes liable and punishable the person who does the act or makes the omission. Offences are categorized according to their severity into felony, misdemeanor, and simple offence. Element of an offence is a required aspect or component of a cause of action. For one to be held guilty and liable for any offence whatsoever, the elements required for that offence must be complete at the time of its commission.

There are two elements of an offence. They are; the physical element (actus reus) and the mental element (mens rea).

The Physical Element (actus reus)

This is also known as the actus reus. The physical element refers to an act or series of acts, omission, or passive state of affairs of which when present together with the mental element, completes an offence. Generally, it is the physical action or inactivity taken to perpetrate a crime. Simply put, the physical element is the totality of an offence in exclusion of the mental element.

Categories of Physical Element

a. An Act: The law does not punish the intention of a man until he begins to manifest it through actions. This means that the intention of a man alone does not constitute an offence until that intention is being put into execution by some overt acts. The law will readily intervene at the slightest manifestation of that intention, hence the preliminary offences of attempt and conspiracy. The human conduct in question to constitute a physical element must be means through which the offence can be fulfilled. The act so manifested or executed must be such that causes undesirable impact. Also, the act so manifested or executed must constitute an offence defined and prohibited by law.

Further, for an act to constitute a physical element, it must be the act of the accused and not the act of another. For instance, if X is holding a knife and Y drags X’s hand and stabbed Z, the actus reus here lies with Y and not X. y is the party that manifested and executed the physical act.

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In vicarious liability offences however, the act in question need not be that of the accused. For some offences, the actus reus is the mere possession of a material prohibited by law. For instance, possession of things suspected to have been stolen (section 430 of the Criminal Code), possession of unlawful arms (section 428 of the Criminal Code), possession of charms (section 213 of the Criminal Code), possession of counterfeit coins (section 184 (3) of the Criminal Code), and so on. Here, the physical element is complete upon possession of the items so prohibited.

b. An Omission: Generally, omission to do something does not constitute an offence. However, there are occasions where mere omission to do something (usually a legal duty) constitutes an offence. This is where such is expressly provided by the law, and where such is provided, the omission to do so constitute a physical element to the prescribed offence.

The instances of such provisions includes; section 234 (c) (d) and (f) of the Criminal Code which makes it an offence for a person who has the responsibility of repairing a bridge or highway and fails to do same. Another is seen in section 343 of the Criminal Code which makes it an offence for any person in charge of explosives to omit to handle it with caution in order to prevent danger.

Another instance is in chapter 26 of the Criminal Code (sections 300-305). This chapter deals with any person in charge of another person who cannot help himself by reason of unsound mind, age or sickness, the duty of a head of family to provide necessaries for a child, duty of masters to provide necessaries for his servant or apprentice who is below 16 years, duty of persons handling dangerous substance and people doing certain acts, etc. the omission of these categories of persons to perform the obligation amounts to an omission, and where such omission causes the death of another, the omission constitutes a physical element of the offence so defined.

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The Nigerian Criminal Code Act also recognizes certain breach of contractual obligation which endangers the life of another as an omission being a physical element. This is seen in section 305 A (1) of the Criminal Code which makes an offence the malicious omission to supply water or electricity to a community so contracted, and also subsection 2 of the same section which makes an offence the malicious omission of the performance of a contract for service which is nonperformance is capable of jeopardizing public health or endangering the lives of the public.

The criminal law is reluctant to proscribing omissions as an offence for this would be stretching the law too far by imposing moral obligations on people, since the law is not concerned with moral but legal obligation. One would therefore not be liable for watching an old woman burn to ashes in a building caught by fire which he could easily be of help, but one will be held liable for starving an old woman in his charge to death, who lacks the capacity to take care of herself by reason of old age.

c. Passive State of Affairs: There are few instances where one’s inactive state of affair can constitute physical element. This is seen in section 249 and 250 of the Criminal Code which makes an idle and disorderly persons, rogues and vagabonds liable for the offence. This is a similar provision to section 405 and 406 of the Nigerian Penal Code applicable in the Northern Nigeria.