What is "actus reus"

n. (context legal English) A criminal act, considered as separate from the intentions or state of mind of the perpetrator. (from 20th c.)

n. activity that transgresses moral or civil law; "he denied any wrongdoing" [syn: wrongdoing, wrongful conduct, misconduct]

Actus reus , sometimes called the external element or the objective element of a crime, is the Latin term for the "guilty act" which, when proved beyond a reasonable doubt in combination with the mens rea, "guilty mind", produces criminal liability in the common law-based criminal law jurisdictions of Canada, Australia, India, Pakistan, South Africa, New Zealand, England and Wales, Colombia, Ghana, Ireland, Israel and the United States of America. In the United States of America, some crimes also require proof of an attendant circumstance.