February 3, 2023

Liability clause example: (Potential purpose - establishing “mens reus” of a crime.

TAKE NOTICE that upon receipt of this Notice, the person or persons acting on behalf and in the name of the official character or characters named in this Notice, have been made equally aware of this defect with this Notice. Any failure of any one of these persons to act in “good faith” while acting in their official capacity of ______________________________________________________________________ in relation to this Notice may, upon receipt of this notice, be held personally liable for any act made in “bad faith”, which includes but is not limited to acting beyond their lawful authority while acting in their official capacity. These persons may be brought before a court of competent and inherent jurisdiction in pursuit of costs and damages. (Roncarelli v. Duplessis, 1959 CanLII 50 (SCC), [1959] SCR 121)

Disclaimer: Not to be construed or applied as legal advice.

Actus Reus v Mens Reus.

Actus Reus refers to the act of a crime. If someone commits a crime and it can be proven, that would be the act of a crime or "Actus Reus" and may be charged under a lesser offence, which is called a "Summary Offence".

Mens Reus refers to the intentional act of committing a crime. It is harder to prove, because you essentially have to prove a guilty mind. In example, if you are trying to steal my car, that would be the act of a crime, but does not prove a guilty mind, after all you might have good reason... BUT, if I catch you in the process of stealing my car, point out you are stealing my car and demand you provide a good reason, well then, should you fail to provide a good reason and steal it anyway, now I can prove intent, and I just upped the charge from a lesser "summary offence" to an "indictable offence" which may lead to jail time and longer jail time.