Motive (law) - Citizendia

For other uses, see Motive.

In law, especially criminal law, a motive is the cause that moves people to induce a certain action. The term criminal law, sometimes called penal law, refers to any of various bodies of rules in different Jurisdictions whose common characteristic is the potential Motive in itself is seldom an element of any given crime; however, the legal system typically allows motive to be proven in order to make plausible the accused's reasons for committing a crime, at least when those motives may be obscure or hard to identify with. An element of a crime (collectively called elements of crime) is a basic set of Common law principles regarding Criminal liability that with few exceptions In the sociological field, crime is the breach of a rule or Law for which some governing authority or force may ultimately prescribe a Punishment

The law technically distinguishes between motive and intent. Intent in Law is the planning and desire to perform an act, to fail to do so (i "Intent" in criminal law is synonymous with mens rea, which means no more than the specific mental purpose to perform a deed that is forbidden by a criminal statute, or the reckless disregard of whether the law will be violated. In Criminal law, mens rea the Latin term for "guilty mind" is usually one of the necessary elements of a Crime. A statute is a formal written enactment of a Legislative authority that governs a Country, State, City, or County. "Motive" describes instead the reasons in the accused's background and station in life that are supposed to have induced the crime.

Motive is particularly important in prosecutions for homicide. List of countries by homicide rate Homicide ( Latin homicidium, homo human being + caedere to cut kill refers to the act of killing another First, murder is so drastic a crime that most people recoil from the thought of being able to do it; proof of motive explains why the accused did so desperate an act. Murder is the unlawful killing of another human person with Malice aforethought, as defined in Common Law countries

Moreover, most common law jurisdictions have statutes that provide for degrees of homicide, based in part on the accused's mental state. Common law refers to law and the corresponding legal system developed through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive In Law, jurisdiction (from the Latin ius iuris meaning "law" and dicere meaning "to speak" is the practical Authority The lesser offence of voluntary manslaughter, for example, traditionally required that the accused knowingly and voluntarily kill the victim (as in murder); in addition, it must be shown that the killing took place in the "sudden heat of passion," an excess of rage or anger coming from a contemporary provocation, which clouded the accused's judgment. Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being in a manner considered by law as less culpable than Murder. Homicides motivated by such factors are a lesser offense than murder "in cold blood. "

See also