The Elements of Crime under the Pakistani Legal System: An Overview

Under criminal jurisprudence, a crime is generally different from an offence, however, in Pakistan, both of them are seen as the same thing. There are different categories of crimes under Anglo-American jurisprudence, however, Pakistan does not follow this model and has categorized offences into three types on the touchstone of the presence of mens rea as the significance of mens rea is such that its presence or lack thereof changes the whole category of crime altogether. There are three essential elements of a crime: mens rea, actus reus, and concurrence, and the Pakistani Courts with a handful of exceptions mention the first two as the only elements while forgetting concurrence. While there is a presumption of mens rea for every offence, the same can be ruled out by the statute itself. The onus to prove the guilt of the accused is on the prosecution through reliable and admissible evidence as a person is deemed innocent until proven guilty. The methodology used in this paper is doctrinal.