Mistake of Fact or Mistake of Criminal Law? Explaining and Defending the Distinction

Ignorance and Mistake of Criminal Law, Noncriminal Law, and Fact

After clarifying the distinction between mistakes of fact and mistakes of law, this article explores in detail an important distinction within the category of mistake of law, between mistake about the criminal law itself and mistake about noncriminal law norms that the criminal law makes relevant—for example, about the civil law of property (in a theft prosecution) or of divorce (in a bigamy pr...

Common Mistake in Contract Law

English Contract Law has long struggled to understand the effect of a fundamental common mistake in contract formation. Bell v. Lever Brothers Ltd. [1932] A.C. 161 recognises that a common mistake which totally undermines a contract renders it void. Solle v. Butcher [1950] 1 K.B. 671 recognises a doctrine of ‘mistake in equity’ under which a serious common mistake in contract formation falling ...

Darwin's mistake: explaining the discontinuity between human and nonhuman minds.

Over the last quarter century, the dominant tendency in comparative cognitive psychology has been to emphasize the similarities between human and nonhuman minds and to downplay the differences as "one of degree and not of kind" (Darwin 1871). In the present target article, we argue that Darwin was mistaken: the profound biological continuity between human and nonhuman animals masks an equally p...

Accounting Complexity and Misreporting: Manipulation or Mistake?

I explore the effect of accounting complexity on misreporting using a setting of revenue restatements. I measure revenue recognition complexity using a factor score based on the number of words and revenue recognition methods from the revenue recognition disclosure in the 10-K just prior to the restatement announcement. Results are consistent with revenue recognition complexity increasing the p...

Organ trading: a medical or ethical mistake?