The conduct element of a crime — what the prosecution must prove the defendant did, caused or failed to do before any question of fault arises.
Every offence starts with proof that something prohibited actually happened, and the rules here decide whether it did. This chapter sets out what the actus reus comprises and how conduct, result and state of affairs offences differ, then explains why the defendant's conduct must be voluntary and how automatism can negate it. It works through causation in result crimes — factual and legal causation, intervening acts and the thin skull rule — and the requirement that actus reus and mens rea coincide, including the continuing act and single transaction doctrines. It closes with liability for omissions: the general rule against punishing a failure to act, the recognised duty situations that displace it, and the causation and breach requirements that follow.
