Scienter
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Scienter is a legal term that refers to knowledge of wrongdoing. This means that an offending party has knowledge of the "wrongness" of an act or event prior to committing it. For example, if a man sells a car with brakes that don't work to his friend, and he doesn't know about the problem, then the man has no scienter. If he sells the car and knew of the problem before he sold, he has scienter.
It is generally used as an element to certain causes of action and is sometimes used as a standard for liability or guilt in some jurisdictions. For instance, section 1960 of title 18 of the United States Code, which prohibits unlicensed money transmitting businesses, has a scienter requirement, in that it only applies to anyone "[who] knowingly conducts, controls, manages, supervises, directs, or owns all or part of an unlicensed money transmitting business". [1]
[edit] External links
- Split Widens on Scienter Pleading Standard Under the PSLRA, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP
[edit] References
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