Criminal Offence
A criminal offence refers to an act that is prohibited by law and punishable by the state. It encompasses a wide range of behaviors, from minor infractions to serious felonies. The classification and punishment of criminal offences are typically outlined in a jurisdiction's legal statutes and can vary widely between different regions and legal systems.
7 Key excerpts on "Criminal Offence"
eBook - ePub- Gary Slapper, David Kelly(Authors)
- 2009(Publication Date)
- Routledge-Cavendish(Publisher)
...Chapter 5 The criminal law 5.1 The general principles of criminal liability 5.1.1 The nature and sources of criminal law Criminal law obviously concerns crime, but what is a crime? There is a view that it is impossible to identify a universal definition of the nature of a crime because the essence of criminality changes with historical context. As Glanville Williams has observed: …a crime (or offence) is a legal wrong that can be followed by criminal proceedings which may result in punishment [ Learning the Law, 1983, p 27]. In other words, a crime is anything that the State has chosen to criminalise. A similar analysis was adopted by Lord Atkin: … the domain of criminal jurisprudence can only be ascertained by examining what acts at any particular period are declared by the State to be crimes, and the only common nature they will be found to possess is that they are prohibited by the State and that those who commit them are punished [ Proprietary Articles Trade Association v AG for Canada [1931] AC 324]. Williams seems eventually to have conceded that invoking criminal law requires that a threshold of seriousness attaches to the conduct proscribed—a concession precisely because this further feeds into a circular definition: …a crime is an act that is condemned sufficiently strongly to have induced the authorities (legislature or judges) to declare it to be punishable before the ordinary courts [ Learning the Law, 1983, p 29]. This idea that any definition tendered of a crime convenes around there being the notion of a threshold to justify criminal law’s intervention is pervasive...
eBook - ePub- David L.A. Barker(Author)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Chapter 12 Criminal law Key points structure and classification of a criminal law the elements of criminal liability offences against the person offences against property 12.1 Definition of crime Criminal law is concerned with conduct that the State considers should be punished, whereas civil law is concerned with private rights. A crime may be regarded as a public wrong; but conduct that is harmful to the public is not necessarily criminal. ‘Crimes, then, are wrongs which the judges have held, or Parliament has from time to time laid down, are sufficiently injurious to the public to warrant the application of criminal procedure to deal with them’ (Smith and Hogan). Nor is immoral conduct necessarily criminal; but conduct that would not be regarded as immoral may be criminal on grounds of social expediency. ‘The domain of criminal jurisprudence can only be ascertained by examining what acts at any particular period are declared by the State to be crimes…’ (Lord Atkin). This means that crime can only usefully be defined by reference to procedure: ‘A crime (or offence) is a legal wrong that can be followed by criminal proceedings which may result in punishment’ (Glanville Williams). 12.2 Sources (a) Common law Many Criminal Offences were originally created by the common-law courts and the definitions of some of these offences are to be found even today only in case law, e.g. murder, involuntary manslaughter, common assault. An offence remains a common-law offence even when statute provides defences or penalties, e.g. Homicide Act 1957. Today the courts have no power to create new offences; and this was acknowledged by the House of Lords in Knuller v DPP (1973)...
eBook - ePub- David Barker(Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Chapter 12 Criminal law Key points ● structure and classification of a criminal law ● the elements of criminal liability ● offences against the person ● offences against property 12.1 Definition of crime Criminal law is concerned with conduct that the State considers should be punished, whereas civil law is concerned with private rights. A crime may be regarded as a public wrong; but conduct that is harmful to the public is not necessarily criminal. ‘Crimes, then, are wrongs which the judges have held, or Parliament has from time to time laid down, are sufficiently injurious to the public to warrant the application of criminal procedure to deal with them’ (Smith and Hogan). Nor is immoral conduct necessarily criminal; but conduct that would not be regarded as immoral may be criminal on grounds of social expediency. ‘The domain of criminal jurisprudence can only be ascertained by examining what acts at any particular period are declared by the State to be crimes…’ (Lord Atkin). This means that crime can only usefully be defined by reference to procedure: ‘A crime (or offence) is a legal wrong that can be followed by criminal proceedings which may result in punishment’ (Glanville Williams). 12.2 Sources (a) Common law Many Criminal Offences were originally created by the common law courts and the definitions of some of these offences are to be found even today only in case law, e.g. murder, involuntary manslaughter, common assault. An offence remains a common law offence even when statute provides defences or penalties, e.g. Homicide Act 1957. Today the courts have no power to create new offences; and this was acknowledged by the House of Lords in Knuller v DPP (1973). In an earlier case before the House of Lords, Shaw v DPP (1962), Lord Simonds L.C...
eBook - ePub- Kenny Chin(Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Routledge-Cavendish(Publisher)
...3 Criminal Law You should be familiar with the following areas: • various elements in crime • mens rea, actus reus and strict liability • minors in criminal law • definition and specific defences of murder • different forms of manslaughter • definitions and requirements of various assault offences • definitions and requirements of theft and other offences against property • various general defences and their applications Nature of criminal liability What is crime? Halsbury’s Laws of England defines crime as: … an unlawful act or default which is an offence against the public and renders the person guilty of the act or default liable to legal punishment. Two main objectives of criminal law are: (a) to punish and reform the offenders; and (b) to protect the public and individuals from harm which may be caused by the unlawful act or default. Classification of crime The following are three main ways that various offences can be classified: Classification by the method of trial There are summary, indictable and either way offences. Summary offences are those which are triable in magistrates’ courts only and heard by magistrates. They are usually less serious crimes. Indictable offences are those which can only be tried in the Crown Court, heard by a judge and a jury. The judge deals with issues of law and the jury decides on facts. There are also either-way offences, which can be tried either in magistrates’ courts or the Crown Court. All criminal cases start in magistrates’ courts; therefore, if a case is an either way offence or an indictable offence, there are procedures to decide in which court the matter is to be heard and to transfer the case to the Crown Court. Further details of these procedures are stated in Chapter 9. Statutory and common law offences Statutory offences are those crimes that are provided by Acts of Parliament or by delegated legislation...
eBook - ePub- Alan Doig(Author)
- 2010(Publication Date)
- Willan(Publisher)
...Chapter 5 State crime – what is a crime in the UK context? Introduction Much of the literature on state crime has concentrated on breaches of the criminal law: the idea of crime as a public crime does at least serve to focus our attention on a central issue about criminalization … criminal convictions condemn the convicted person. Criminal punishments are not merely neutral techniques of prevention or deterrents; they express condemnation or censure … to put it crudely and over-simply, civil law and non-criminal modes of regulation are primarily concerned with the prevention of harm and with compensation, as well as with spreading the costs of such harms and prevention, whereas criminal law is concerned with the definition and condemnation of wrongs. (Duff and Green 2005: 9) In the UK context, criminal law not only reflects the wishes or needs of society but also ‘must aim to lay down clear “rules of conduct” for them that will tell them precisely what they must or must not do, on pain of punishment if they break the rules … It aims not merely to make clear what conduct is prohibited or permitted, but to declare to citizens what count as public wrongs that require a public condemnatory response’ (Duff and Green 2005: 10, 13; see also Robinson 1997). In other words, what is usually seen as a state crime is an offence against criminal law, not only for what it criminalises but also for its universal applicability: ‘in Blackstone’s Usage, torts are private wrongs because the impact of the wrong is limited to the interests of a private person. Crimes are public wrongs, for in addition to the particular victim the public as a whole is injured in its sense of security and wellbeing’ (Fletcher 1998: 77). Nevertheless, in terms of state crime, harm or loss through official actions or decisions is as relevant, and addressed as much through regulatory as criminal law...
eBook - ePub- (Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Straightforward Publishing Digital(Publisher)
...2 The Purpose of Criminal Law Having looked at the development of law and the operations of the legal system we will now turn to criminal law. The main purposes of criminal law are to: • Protect individuals and their property from damage or harm • To preserve order in society • To punish those who deserve punishment The most important distinction between civil law and criminal law is that, under criminal law, with which this book deals, the state plays a major role. Criminal law is, in effect, a crime against the state. Defining a crime There are varying definitions of a crime but they are all variations on the same theme. Essentially a crime is: • A conduct forbidden by the state. Punishment is meted out to any person who violates the rules of criminal law. The state enforces those rules. It is true to say that many offences committed involve breaches of morals, or moral wrongs. However, there are many subtle differences between morality and crime. There are areas of morality which are not crimes, moral wrongs such as adultery or telling of lies. Although these kinds of moral wrongs are offensive to many people the law would not get involved. The Wolfenden Committee of 1957 came to the conclusion that it is not the function of criminal law to interfere with the private lives of citizens in order to try to impose certain standards of behaviour. It was felt that this should only be done: To preserve public order and decency to protect the citizen from what is offensive or injurious, and to provide sufficient safeguards against exploitation and corruption of others, particularly those who are especially vulnerable. Sources of criminal law Criminal law combines a mix of common law rules and Acts of Parliament. Common law rules are rules that have been laid down over time by judges. However Parliament is now the dominating law making assembly...
eBook - ePubWhat About Law?
Studying Law at University
- Catherine Barnard, Janet O'Sullivan, G J Virgo(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Hart Publishing(Publisher)
...2 Criminal Law Graham Virgo We hear about crimes all the time and many of us probably feel that we have a pretty good idea of what conduct is criminal, whether it is murder or rape or theft. It may also be pretty obvious why we want to punish people for committing such crimes. But when you study criminal law you cannot rely on gut reaction: you need to think carefully about how crimes are defined, how they should be defined and why it is appropriate for the state to punish somebody. For example, should people who smoke cigarettes in pubs be punished for doing so? Should we punish people who sell drugs? But why don’t we punish people who break a contract, or prostitutes for selling sexual services? And should we punish people for breaching social distancing rules? THE ELEMENTS OF A CRIME When lawyers consider whether a crime has been committed, such as the crimes which may have been committed at Laura’s party in chapter one, they usually break a Criminal Offence down into three separate elements. First, they consider whether the prohibited conduct or result have occurred. This is known as the external elements of the crime, which are often described by using the Latin term actus reus. So, for the crime of murder, the actus reus is that the victim is dead and that their death was caused by the defendant. Secondly, many crimes also involve a fault element, which is often known as the mens rea. Not every crime needs a mens rea, but many do, especially serious crimes, because it is the fact that the defendant was at fault which makes them particularly blameworthy and justifies the state in punishing them. Relevant fault elements include intention, recklessness and negligence. For the crime of murder the relevant fault element is that the defendant intended either to kill or to cause serious injury. If this cannot be established, the defendant cannot be convicted of murder, although they might still be guilty of a less serious offence, such as manslaughter...
