What do you understand by the term ‘Crime’ and ‘Criminal Law’
Definition of Crime:
The transient nature of crime makes it very difficult to derive any precise definition of the term. In spite of the attempts made by various jurists, a satisfactory definition of crime has not been achieved.
Literal Meaning of Crime:
The word “Crime” was originally taken from a Latin term “Crimen” which means “to charge”. The Greek expression “Krimos” is synonymous to a Sanskrit word ‘Krama’ which means “Social order”. Therefore, in common parlance the word crime is applied to those acts that go against social order and are worthy of serious condemnation.
General Meaning of Crime:
The Oxford English Dictionary defines crime as “an act punishable by law as forbidden by statute or injurious to public welfare”. It is a very wide definition including many things in the present-day complex society. Any act like selling adulterated food, molestation of women or young children in buses and railways, misleading advertisements can be said to be injurious to public welfare. It is too wide a definition and fails to precisely identify the thing it purports to define. Though there is no precise definition for crime, we can still have an understanding of the word by examining different definitions put forward by different jurists.
Crime Is A “Legal Wrong”:
Since no satisfactory definition of crime acceptable and applicable to all situations could be derived, penal statutes define, specifically, different criminal behaviours, which they purport to check. In simple terms crome can be defined as “A crime is an act which is prohibited and made punishable by law.”
This definition is nothing but a statement of fact, which is made for the purposes of the convenience, and cannot be regarded as a definition of crime. It refers to the specific kinds of conduct prohibited under the Special Part of the Code. There are variety of crimes such as violent personal behaviour, occasional property crimes, occupational crimes, Political Crimes, Public Order Crimes, Conventional Crimes, Organised Crimes, Professional Crimes, White Collar Crimes, Sexual Crimes, Crime against Property, Person, Decency, Public order, etc, Broadly speaking they may be categorised into three heads, Namely, Offensive acts specifically declared as offence under the IPC, CrPC, and Special or Local Laws or enactments.
The IPC does not define “Crime” but defines “offence” as [ Sec 40 “Offence”. —Except in the 39 [Chapters] and sections mentioned in clauses 2 and 3 of this section, the word “offence” denotes a thing made punishable by this Code. In Chapter IV, 40 [Chapter VA] and in the following sections, namely, sections 41 [64, 65, 66, 42 [67], 71], 109, 110, 112, 114, 115, 116, 117, 43 [118, 119, 120,] 187, 194, 195, 203, 211, 213, 214, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 327, 328, 329, 330, 331, 347, 348, 388, 389 and 445, the word “offence” denotes a thing punishable under this Code, or under any special or local law as hereinafter defined. And in sections 141, 176, 177, 201, 202, 212, 216 and 441, the word “offence” has the same meaning when the thing punishable under the special or local law is punishable under such law with imprisonment for a term of six months or upwards, whether with or without fine.] Thus, a clear-cut definition of offence or crime is not mentioned in the Criminal Law in India.
Definition Of Crime: Many jurists have defined crime in their own ways some of which are as under:· Blackstone defined crime as an act committed or omitted in violation of a public law either forbidding or commanding it.· Stephen observed a crime is a violation of a right considered in reference to the evil tendency of such violation as regards the community at large.
· Oxford Dictionary defines crime as an act punishable by law as forbidden by statute or injurious to the public welfare.
Fundamental Elements of Crime: There are four elements which go to constitute a crime, these are: -
1. Human being
2. Mens rea or guilty intention
3. Actus reus or illegal act or omission
4. Injury to another human being
Human Being- The first element requires that the wrongful act must be committed by a human being. In ancient times, when criminal law was largely dominated by the idea of retribution, punishments were inflicted on animals also for the injury caused by them, for example, a pig was burnt in Paris for having devoured a child, a horse was killed for having kicked a man. But now, if an animal causes an injury we hold not the animal liable but its owner liable for such injury.
So the first element of crime is a human being who- must be under the legal obligation to act in a particular manner and should be a fit subject for awarding appropriate punishment. Section 11 of the Indian Penal Code provides that word ‘person’ includes a company or association or body of persons whether incorporated or not. The word ‘person’ includes artificial or juridical persons.
Mens Rea- The second important essential element of a crime is mens rea or evil intent or guilty mind. There can be no crime of any nature without mens rea or an evil mind. Every crime requires a mental element and that is considered as the fundamental principle of criminal liability. The basic requirement of the principle mens rea is that the accused must have been aware of those elements in his act which make the crime with which he is charged.
There is a well known maxim in this regard, i.e. “actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea” which means that, the guilty intention and guilty act together constitute a crime. It comes from the maxim that no person can be punished in a proceeding of criminal nature unless it can be showed that he had a guilty mind.
Actus Reus [Guilty Act Or Omission] - The third essential element of a crime is actus reus. In other words, some overt act or illegal omission must take place in pursuance of the guilty intention. Actus reus is the manifestation of mens rea in the external world. Prof. Kenny was the first writer to use the term ‘actus reus’. He has defined the term thus- “such result of human conduct as the law seeks to prevent”.
Injury- The fourth requirement of a crime is injury to another person or to the society at large. The injury should be illegally caused to any person in body, mind, reputation or property as according to Section 44 of IPC, 1860 the injury denotes any harm whatever illegally caused to any person in body, mind, reputation or property.
Stages Of A Crime If a person commits a crime voluntarily or after preparation the doing of it involves four different stages. In every crime, there is first intention to commit it, secondly, preparation to commit it, thirdly, attempt to commit it and fourthly the accomplishment. The stages can be explained as under-
Intention- Intention is the first stage in the commission of an offence and known as mental stage. Intention is the direction of conduct towards the object chosen upon considering the motives which suggest the choice. But the law does not take notice of an intention, mere intention to commit an offence not followed by any act, cannot constitute an offence. The obvious reason for not prosecuting the accused at this stage is that it is very difficult for the prosecution to prove the guilty mind of a person.
Preparation- Preparation is the second stage in the commission of a crime. It means to arrange the necessary measures for the commission of the intended criminal act. Intention alone or the intention followed by a preparation is not enough to constitute the crime. Preparation has not been made punishable because in most of the cases the prosecution has failed to prove that the preparations in the question were made for the commission of the particular crime. Preparation When Punishable- Generally, preparation to commit any offence is not punishable but in some exceptional cases preparation is punishable, following are some examples of such exceptional circumstances-
Preparation to wage war against the Government - Section 122, IPC 1860; Preparation to commit depredation on territories of a power at peace with Government of India- Section 126, IPC 1860;
Preparation to commit dacoity- Section 399, IPC 1860;
Preparation for counterfeiting of coins or Government stamps- Sections 233-235, S. 255 and S. 257;
Possessing counterfeit coins, false weight or measurement and forged documents. Mere possession of these is a crime and no possessor can plead that he is still at the stage of preparation- Sections 242, 243, 259, 266 and 474.
Attempt- Attempt is the direct movement towards the commission of a crime after the preparation is made. According to English law, a person may be guilty of an attempt to commit an offence if he does an act which is more than merely preparatory to the commission of the offence; and a person will be guilty of attempting to commit an offence even though the facts are such that the commission of the offence is impossible. There are three essentials of an attempt:-
Guilty intention to commit an offence;
Some act done towards the commission of the offence;
The act must fall short of the completed offence.
Attempt Under The Indian Penal Code, 1860- The Indian Penal Code has dealt with attempt in the following four different ways-
1. Firstly Completed offences and attempts have been dealt with in the same section and same punishment is prescribed for both. Such provisions are contained in Sections 121, 124, 124-A, 125, 130, 131, 152, 153-A, 161, 162, 163, 165, 196, 198, 200, 213, 240, 241, 251, 385, 387, 389, 391, 394, 395, 397, 459 and 460.
2. Secondly, attempts to commit offences and commission of specific offences have been dealt with separately and separate punishments have been provided for attempt to commit such offences from those of the offences committed. Examples are- murder is punished under section 302 and attempt to murder to murder under section 307; culpable homicide is punished under section 304 and attempt to commit culpable homicide under section 308; Robbery is punished under section 392 and attempt to commit robbery under section 393.
3. Thirdly, attempt to commit suicide is punished under section 309; Fourthly, all other cases [where no specific provisions regarding attempt are made] are covered under section 511 which provides that the accused shall be punished with one-half of the longest term of imprisonment provided for the offence or with prescribed fine or with both.
Accomplishment Or Completion- The last stage in the commission of an offence is its accomplishment or completion. If the accused succeeds in his attempt to commit the crime, he will be guilty of the complete offence and if his attempt is unsuccessful he will be guilty of an attempt only. For example, A fires at B with the intention to kill him, if B dies, A will be guilty for committing the offence of murder and if B is only injured, it will be a case of attempt to murder
Causes of Crime:
The common factors in causing crimes are physical ailments which may be organic and functional. Mental ailments coupled with an environment which is favourable may cause an outburst of anti-social crime.
We know that conduct is an expression of mental activity. A delinquent act may be the result of neurosis or psychosis. It may be also due to the susceptibility to crime as a consequence of a mental defect coupled with some environmental factors. Perhaps, the mind may be in some condition, but the crime is committed due to an emotional disability, or it may happen because of the impact of psychopathic. If the delinquency is to be diagnosed, the crime person mental traits, peculiarities and disabilities play a very important part. It is quite plain that it is the mind that control criminal behaviour. If the mind itself is deranged, defective or feeble we have no other go but to turn for cure or removal of the mental defect or fortification of the mental faculty.
Criminal law-
Criminal law is a body of rules and statutes that define conduct prohibited by the state because it threatens and harms public safety and welfare and that establishes punishment to be imposing for the commission of such acts. Criminal law differs from civil law, whose emphasis is more on dispute resolution than punishment. The term criminal law generally refers to substantive criminal laws.
Substantive criminal laws define crimes and prescribe punishments. In contrast, The Code of Criminal Procedure describes the process through which the criminal laws are enforced. For example, the law prohibiting murder is a substantive criminal law. The manner in which state enforces this substantive law through the gathering of evidence and prosecution is generally considered a procedural matter.
In criminal matters, there are different stages of criminal proceeding. Inquiry and trial are the stages where the courts are concerned. Inquiry, which is much wider term, So, for as the trial is concerns it only regarding crime only, but inquiry is deals with any act whether it is crime or not, in other words after completing inquiry trial begins of those acts which are crimes. However, the inquiry and trial can take place when investigation is completed. The Investigation, inquiry and Trial are three different stages of criminal proceeding. The first stage is investigation, in which the Police when get information of any crime, subject to the order of magistrates or without order of magistrates. However, the Investigation is starting point of criminal law, its effectiveness needed for
implementation of any criminal law.
There cannot be uniform process of investigation. The investigation officers has to apply different techniques while investigation of any crime. Investigation is skill and therefore it requires a special knowledge regarding the subject matter, and this is where one is required to have exhaustive
knowledge of Code of Criminal Procedure and Indian Evidence Act. Because Criminal practice cannot be held without in-depth knowledge of these three inter-connecting acts.
The Development of Criminal Law in India-
The criminal branch of law impacts each life to a great extent. What amounts to crime has no clear definition. But, crime could be said to be an act or omission which is prohibited by the law. The concept of crime differs in each sector, society, group, and is subject to different ideas, morals, traditions, taboos and even time. What may have been considered crime long ago may not be a crime today? Or what may be a crime today may not be a crime in the future. To develop a clear understanding of the criminal branch, one needs to understand its history.
Ancient India: Criminal Law during the Hindu Period-
The branch of criminal jurisprudence dates as early as to the era of Manu. He put forward a digest which laid down not only a comprehensive code of the ordinances relating to the law but also brought to light the traditions, customs, practices and religion of people.
The concepts of adultery, libel, slander, theft, homicide, gambling, battery, assault, robbery, false evidence, criminal breach of trust were well recognised as crimes by Manu. What is to be noticed is that the current law i.e Indian Penal Code gives a major place to all of these offences. In the ancient era, justice was either dispensed by the Kings themselves or by officers or judges appointed by them.
Also, private and public wrongs were not distinguished then, but criminals were distinguished as either hardened criminals or casual offenders. Similar to the concept of Chapter IV of the IPC, exemption from criminal liabilities was prevalent. The private defence was a well-established right.
Criminal Law and The Mohammadan Era-
India worked on the lines established by Manu till the Mohammedan era came into the picture. The Muslim law was guided by the Koran. The administration was handled by the Kazis. Nature of the offence determined the punishment. The concept of duty which is relative to the importance of the subject matter was blended with concepts like sin, moral and social obligation, religion and crime.
Kisa(retaliation), Hadd (Fixed Punishment), Diyut (blood money) and Tazir or Syasa (discretionary or exemplary punishment) were the four forms of punishments. However, they were subject to the decisions of the Kazis. Thus the rule was not uniform.
Modern India and Criminal Law-
When the British arrived in India, the Muslim law was prevalent. But there were many problems faced due to its state and thus the English law was considered as a guide. The English law came to b practised in the presidency towns with the Portuguese law being the first to replace the Muslim law in Bombay. The same was followed by The Company’s Laws of 1670 and later, under a Charter of 24th September 1726, the Mayor’s Court was established and authoritatively, the English common law was administered in Bombay.
The East India Company, in its administrative capacity, exercised jurisdiction in the Madras and Calcutta through courts which extensively followed the English Criminal Law. Similar to the case of Bombay, Mayor’s Court was also established in Madras and Calcutta by the Charter of 1726. All the courts, however, followed their own course of action which resulted in conflicting decisions often.
The Indian Penal Code, 1860-
The Governor-General of India appointed “the Indian Law Commissioners” by the virtue of Government of India Act, 1833, Section 53. The First Law Commission of India was constituted in 1834 which submitted a draft code in 1837. The second law commission again submitted the report in two parts in 1846 and 1847 respectively. It was revised thoroughly by Benthune and Peacock which was submitted in 1856 to the legislative council.
The Indian Penal Code was brought into force on January 1, 1862, after receiving the assent of the Governor-General in Council on October 6, 1860.
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