Lord Reid declared: The case's significance in English criminal law is that it sets out new set guidelines for determining whether an offence is one of
strict liability or whether
mens rea is a presumed requirement. • It is a universal principle that if a penal provision is reasonably capable of two interpretations, that interpretation which is most favourable to the accused must be adopted. • The fact that other sections of the Act expressly require
mens rea is not in itself sufficient to justify a decision that a section which is silent as to
mens rea creates an absolute offence. It is necessary to go outside the Act and examine all relevant circumstances in order to establish that this must have been the intention of Parliament. == See also ==