mentes reae

First attested in 1932; from the Latin mentēs (“minds”, the nominative plural form of mēns, “mind”) + reae (the feminine nominative plural form of reus, “guilty”).

mentes reae pl

1. plural of mens rea
   • 1932, Annual Survey of English Law (The London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London) Department of Law), page 312

     “The old conception of mens rea,” says Professor Sayer, “must be discarded, and in its place must be substituted the new conception of mentes reae.”

• actus rei