2025/08/01 by Michael Bohlander · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis #Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse #Legal principles and applications
paper · pdf · doi:10.1177/00220183251365781
openalex publication_date 2025/08/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02
Transferred malice is a staple feature of English substantive criminal law. Mostly, the cases deal with transferred intent. However, there is an opinion in the academic literature which argues that the rule can also be applied to recklessness as a lesser form of mens rea in cases where another risk than that primarily foreseen by the offender materialises. The comment argues that this view has no grounding in historical case law, that in practice a transfer will rarely ever be needed in recklessness scenarios, and that an application to cases where the secondary risk was unforeseeable would not be in line with standard thresholds of criminalising behaviour.