Dishonesty as mens rea

Dishonesty is generally considered a mens rea element in criminal law, but it is not clear what this categorization amounts to. I argue that it should be understood as a standard of conduct, not as a mental element. So understood, dishonesty neither relies on a fictitious social consensus nor threatens the subjectivism about mens rea that characterizes English law. It is also more amenable to contextualization than has been recognized. However, in the law of theft it may still fail to give adequate guidance to defendants.