Basic intent Definition

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GLOSSARY

What does Basic intent mean?

All offences other than those of specific intent are crimes of basic intent.

Offences that can be committed other than intentionally, or require proof of intention but only as to an act and not as to its purpose (see “specific intent”), and do not require proof of some other special mental state, such as dishonesty, are offences of “basic intent”. Self-induced intoxication which prevents the accused from forming the mens rea of the offence cannot amount to a defence unless the offence is one of “specific intent”.

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Specific and basic intent

Intention refers to the outcome sought by the defendant. Offences may be described as either ones of ‘basic intent’ or of ‘specific intent’. The Court of Appeal has described this distinction as ‘elusive’. The Court nevertheless provided the following definition of specific intent:‘Crimes of specific intent are those where the offence requires proof of purpose or consequence, which are not confined to, but amongst which are included, those where the purpose goes beyond the actus reus (sometimes referred to as cases of “ulterior intent”).’The Court also approved the reasoning that:‘[A] distinction is to be made between (i) intention as applied to acts considered in relation to their purposes and (ii) intention as applied to acts apart from their purposes. A general intent attending the commission of an act is, in some cases, the only intent required to constitute the crime while, in others, there must be, in addition to that general intent, a specific intent attending the purpose for the commission of the act.’Put simply, offences of specific intent require...

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