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Culpability in the Misuse of Drugs Act – Wilful Blindness, the Reasonable Person and a Duty to Check

Chan Wing Cheong

(2013) 25 SAcLJ 110

Abstract:
This article reviews recent developments where knowledge is the required fault element of a criminal offence. In many cases, direct evidence of knowledge is unavailable and inferences must be made. Recent drug trafficking cases concerning the mental state associated with wilful blindness in particular are reviewed, and a call is made for a new offence that more accurately defines what the wilfully blind accused in such cases failed to do.