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Absolute Liability

Definition

A stricter form of no-fault liability where even a reasonable mistake of fact gives no defence, reserved for a narrow set of public-welfare and hazardous-activity contexts.

Related terms

Actus Reus
The guilty act: the physical conduct, the consequence, and the surrounding circumstances that the law forbids. Without a voluntary act there is...
Concurrence Principle
The rule that the guilty act and the guilty mind must exist at the same point in time for liability to attach.
Mens Rea
The guilty mind: intention, knowledge, recklessness, or negligence as required by the section charged. BNS Section 3 sets out general explanations of...
General Defences
The statutory list of defences, such as infancy, unsoundness of mind, intoxication, mistake, necessity and private defence, that can excuse or negate...
General Exceptions
The statutory list of defences, such as infancy, unsoundness of mind, intoxication, mistake, necessity and private defence, that can excuse or negate...
Statutory Offence
An offence created by legislation rather than common law, where the text of the statute usually states which fault element, if any,...
Strict Liability
A rule that convicts on proof of the act alone for at least one element of an offence, while still allowing a...
Strict Liability Offence
An offence that convicts on proof of the act alone for at least one physical element, while still allowing a defence of...
Vicarious Liability
A rule making an employer answerable for a wrongful act an employee commits in the course of employment, without proof that the...

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