What does 'absolute liability' mean in criminal law?

In Plain English

Absolute liability means that if you commit a prohibited act, you are guilty of an offence, regardless of your intent or knowledge. You can't argue that you didn't mean to do it, or that you didn't know what you were doing was wrong. The only thing that needs to be proven is that you performed the act. However, the existence of absolute liability does not prevent other defenses from being raised.

Detailed explanation

Absolute liability, as defined in the Criminal Code 2007 (NI) and the Criminal Code Act 1995, means that there are no fault elements for any of the physical elements of the offence. This is explicitly stated in section 24(1)(a) of the Criminal Code 2007 (NI) and section 6.2(1)(a) of the Criminal Code Act 1995.

Furthermore, the defence of mistake of fact is not available where absolute liability applies, as per section 24(1)(b) of the Criminal Code 2007 (NI) and section 6.2(1)(b) of the Criminal Code Act 1995.

Despite the imposition of absolute liability, other defences may still be available to the accused, as stated in section 24(3) of the Criminal Code 2007 (NI) and section 6.2(3) of the Criminal Code Act 1995.