ABSTRACT
We already know that murder requires both mens rea and an actus reus. A person can be guilty of murder if he has the relevant state of mind to satisfy the mens rea element, and will satisfy the actus reus requirement if he has caused the death.1 There must be a sufficiently direct link between a person’s conduct and a particular consequence before that person can be said to have caused that consequence, so the absence of such a link or ‘chain’ of causation is an obvious check on unfettered liability.
