jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...

, () is the subjective state of mind of the perpetrator of a

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...

, with reference to the exact knowledge of illegal content of his behaviour, and of its possible consequences. In most modern legal systems, the is required as an essential condition to give a penal condemnation. The is usually demonstrated by the verified presence of these elements: *knowledge of a law that prohibited the discussed action or conduct (unless there exists a systemic obligation, pending on every citizen, that considers that the law has to be known by every adult — in this case the knowledge is presumed ; see also ); *knowledge of the most likely consequences of his action; *precise intention of breaking the law or of causing the verified effects of the action. When the author of the crime had no , it is usually considered that the crime still exists, but the author is innocent, unless a responsibility for

guilt Guilt may refer to: *Guilt (emotion), an emotion that occurs when a person feels that they have violated a moral standard *Culpability, a legal term *Guilt (law), a legal term Music * ''Guilt'' (album), a 2009 album by Mims * "Guilt" (The Long Bl ...

can be found in his conduct: the typical case of a car accident in which a wrong or even hazardous manoeuvre causes personal injuries to another car driver, is then managed as a crime for the presence of injuries, yet the author will not be prosecuted as the author of the injuries (he did not want to hurt the other driver, thus he had no ), but simply as the author of a dangerous conduct that indirectly caused said effects, and would be held responsible at a guilt title. The is often absent in people with mental illness, and in front of such people, a psychiatric expertise is usually required to verify the eventual . Minors too are in many systems considered little capable of a correct knowledge about the meaning or the consequences of their actions, and this is the reason for the common reduction of the passive capability of punishment they usually can receive. A particular case of is the {{lang, la, voluntas necandi.

See also