Dishonesty as mens rea
Dishonesty as mens rea
Dishonesty is generally considered a mens rea element in criminal law, but it is not clear what this categorization amounts to. I argue that it should be understood as a standard of conduct, not as a mental element. So understood, dishonesty neither relies on a fictitious social consensus nor threatens the subjectivism about mens rea that characterizes English law. It is also more amenable to contextualization than has been recognized. However, in the law of theft it may still fail to give adequate guidance to defendants.
Dishonesty, theft, Ghosh, Ivey, Hayes, objective standard, subjective test
Turner, Jonathan
77bf1341-0dac-491a-b689-b0faeb2bc76b
2026
Turner, Jonathan
77bf1341-0dac-491a-b689-b0faeb2bc76b
Turner, Jonathan
(2026)
Dishonesty as mens rea.
Law Quarterly Review, 142 (Apr 2026).
Abstract
Dishonesty is generally considered a mens rea element in criminal law, but it is not clear what this categorization amounts to. I argue that it should be understood as a standard of conduct, not as a mental element. So understood, dishonesty neither relies on a fictitious social consensus nor threatens the subjectivism about mens rea that characterizes English law. It is also more amenable to contextualization than has been recognized. However, in the law of theft it may still fail to give adequate guidance to defendants.
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Dishonesty as mens rea
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Accepted/In Press date: 9 December 2025
Published date: 2026
Keywords:
Dishonesty, theft, Ghosh, Ivey, Hayes, objective standard, subjective test
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Local EPrints ID: 508660
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/508660
ISSN: 0023-933X
PURE UUID: da195700-b839-42de-970c-f9bf7b7866df
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Date deposited: 28 Jan 2026 18:13
Last modified: 29 Jan 2026 05:14
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Author:
Jonathan Turner
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