Accident and Mistake

This page was last substantively updated or reviewed January 2018. (Rev. # 82241)

• < Criminal Law
• < Defences

General Principles

The defences of accident or mistake will have different meaning depending on the context.

Generally, an accident is a "mishap or untoward event not expected or designed", or "unforeseen contingency or occurrence."

Most typically accident means that the accused did not mean to perform the actus reus or that the consequences of the actus reus were unintended (ie. an error as to the mens rea).

A claim of accident before a jury should be described as going to both the voluntariness of the actus reus as well mens rea of the offence.

The effect in law is that the mens rea is not present. This is distinctive from mistake which occurs in “the realm of perception”.

Burden

Once the accused establishes there is an "air of reality" to the defence of accident or mistake, the crown must disprove the availability of the defence beyond a reasonable doubt.

General or Specific Intent Offences

The meaning of accident varies depending on the type of charge. Where it is a specific intent offence, an accident relates to a denial of voluntariness of the act or denial of intention to cause the outcome. For a general intent offence, an accident requires that the act was unexpected and by chance that was not foreseeable.

See Also

• Actus Reus and Mens Rea#Voluntariness