Recklessness: Awareness indifference or belief?

Abstract

Defining recklessness in criminal law has proved to be a great challenge for courts, legislatures and legal theorists. Currently, the mental element of recklessness encompasses several disparate states of mind and is defined differently in the offence of rape. However, it is desirable to have a single definition of recklessness which encapsulates all states of mind previously identified and is applicable to all offences. This article investigates whether reformulating the definition of recklessness in terms of the accused's attitude or belief satisfies these criteria. It concludes that the current formulation of the subjective element of the definition of recklessness must be maintained.