Crime and Natural Law
Crime A crime is an act which violates a law of a government, nation-state, or jurisdiction, for which there is no successful defense. According to Western jurisprudence, there must be a simultaneous concurrence of both actus reus ("bad action") and mens rea ("bad mind") for a crime to have been committed; except in crimes of strict liability. In order for prosecution, some laws require proof of causality; relating the defendant's actions to the criminal event in question. In addition, some laws require that attendant circumstances have occurred, in order for a crime to have occurred. Also, in order for a crime to be prosecuted, corpus delicti (or "proof of a crime") must be established. A crime can be the action of violating or breaking the law, having the intention of doing so or helping others in the process; in some systems the simple association for organising a crime is punished, even if the fact is not verified and usually for many crimes the...