There are three elements that the prosecution must prove in order to obtain a conviction for grievous bodily harm which are:
•The complainant suffered grievous bodily harm (i.e. an injury that endangers or is likely to endanger life or causes or is likely to cause permanent injury to health);
•The grievous bodily harm was caused by the accused;
•The act which caused the grievous bodily harm was done unlawfully (i.e. was not justified by any of the defences available at law).
The prosecution does not need to prove that the accused intended to cause grievous bodily harm, the court only needs to be satisfied that the accused caused the grievous bodily harm. The issue of causation can prove to be the contentious element in a trial (i.e. whether the act in fact caused the result), for example, if the accused pushed the victim then the victim tripped and fell and suffered a head injury, the jury would need to consider whether the push caused the head injury.