1. Introduction:
General speaking, the law in general is a preservative instinct OF the individual and of the race. The primary function of criminal law is the preservation of life and protection of society. A crime may be said to be an act which any gives society considers to be sufficiently injurious to justify imposing punishment on the wrongdoer and prescribing a special procedure for dealing with it. There are some essential elements to constitute a crime.
2. Definition Of Crime:
Following are the different definitions of crime.
(I) According To Blackstone:
“An act committer or omitted in violation of public law forbidding or commanding it.”
3. Historical Back Ground
Crime is inevitable in human society. It is integral part of any human society. It is as old as human society itself.
4. characteristics Of Crime:
Following are different characteristics of crime:
(i) It is a harm brought about by human conduct which the sovereign power in the state desires to prevent.
(ii) It is against the public order and moral.
(iii) It is an act, which is against penal laws enacted by statute.
(iv) It is the threat of punishment that is selected among the measure of prevention.
(v) Proceeding of special kind are employed to decide whether the person accused did in-fact cause the harm.
5. Essential Elements Of Crime:
Following are the essential elements of crime:
(i) Human being
(ii) Mens Rea
(iii) Actue Reus
(iv) Injury
(I) Human Being:
The first essential element of crime requires that the act must be committed by a human being. In ancient times, punishments were inflicted on animals also for injury done by them, but now this practice is abandoned so to constitute a crime. There must be a human being who.
(i) Must be under legal obligation to act in a particular manner and,
(ii) Should be fit subject for award of appropriate punishment.
(II) Mens Rea:
The second essential of crime is mens rea (guilty mind). There can be no crime of any nature with an evil mind. Mens rea is the criminal state of mind of the accused.
(i) Use Of Mensrea in Different Senses:
According to Kenny, the team mensrea has been used by the court in two different senses.
a. To donote the accused person ‘ s attitude of mind to what he was doing, form which can be decided the question whether his conduct was or was not voluntary, and
b. To denote the accused person foresight of the consequences of what he was doing.
(ii) Form of Mensrea:
The form which mensrea assumes will depend on the provisions of the particular legal system. Criminal liability may require the wrongful act to be done intentionally or with some wrongful purpose in mind or with recklessly (conscious risk taking) and in each case the mental attitude of the door is such to make punishment effective.
(iii) Mensrea in P.P.C:
In P.P.C, mens rea has been applied in two different ways:
(i) The expressions fraudulently, dishonestly. Voluntarily and intentionally etc used in definitions indicate the criminal intent.
(ii) A separate chapter on general exceptions prescribes circumstances where absence of criminal intent may be presumed. This is the negative method of applying mensrea.
(iv)Exception to Mensrea:
a. Wrongs of Strict Liability:
Wrongs of strict liability are wrongs which are, exception to the rule of meas rea and in such cases, mensrea is not required to be proved.
b. Wrongs Excluded by Statute:
Mensrea may be excluded for certain offences, form a statute by necessary implications and it can be done only where it is absolutely clear that the implementation of the object of the statute would otherwise be defeated.
(III) Actusreus:
The third essential of crime is actus reus, or prescribed act Salmond calls it the physical or material condition of liability. If there is not act, there can be no punishment.
(i) Meaning of Actus Reus: According to poof Kenny:
“Such result of human conduct as the law seeks to prevent.”
(ii) Actus Reus Interested in Conduct:
Offence can be designated into two types:
(i) Result crimes
(ii) Conduct crimes
Actue reus is interested in conduct and much more often the actus reus requires proof of an act or an omission (conduct) for example a deed man with a knife in his back is not the actus reus of the murder. It is putting the knife in the back thereby causing the death which is the actus reus.
(iii) Components of Actus Reus:
The actus reus is constituted by the event and not by the activity which caused the event.
A deed may consist of harm and destruction of property and even the life, but is not a crime unless it is legally prohibited by law.
(iv) Components of Actus Reus:
Following are the components of actus Reus.
a. The conduct which is the central feature of the crime.
b. The surrounding circumstances
c. The consequences
(v) Conduct Must be Willed:
If the actus reus of the crime includes an act, it must be proved that defendant did that act voluntarily.
Exception:
Where the act was done while in state of intoxication self induced by taking alcohol or a durg. The defendant is liable.
(iv)causation:
When the definition of an actus reus requires the occurrence of certain consequences, it is necessary to prove that it was the conduct of the accused which cause those consequences to occur. For example in murder it is necessary to prove that the act of the accused caused the death, if the death came about solely thought some other cause, than the crime is not committed even thought all the other elements of the actus reus and means rea rea present.
“Case of which (1910)”
“Defendant put potassium cyanide into a drink with intent to murder his mother , but medical evidence showed that she died not poison but of heart failure. Although the consequences which . defendant intended occurred, he did not cause it to occur and there was no actus reus of murder and he was acquitted of murder.”
(vi)Completion of Actus Reus:
The autcs reus of an offence is complete in the following circumstance.
a. Where the Participation is Direct:
Where an accused himself commits the act and brings about the results himself e. g where A shoots at B and bring about B’s death.
b. Where the Participation is Indirect:
Acts reus is committed where A enrages an innocent person B and commits offence thought B for example where A puts poison into the cup of tea which he knows would be offered by B to C and thus kills C indirectly where c takes the tea not know to B.
c. Where Another Person has Intervened:
Where a third person has intervened in the act of the accused and if the result is due to the intervention, the accused is not responsible sine the result or harm is not consequence of what the prisoner did.
“R Vs Hilton (1938)”
“it was held that the death was not the act of the accused but of the person who set the engine in motion after the accused had gone away.”
(IV) Injury:
The fourth essential requirement in crime in injury to another person or to society at large. According to section 44P.P.C, the word injury denotes any harm whatever illegally caused to any person in body, mind reputation or property. It is very wide connotation and includes all injuries caused by tortuous act.
6. Conclusion:
To conclude, I can say, that crime is an act of omission or commission. Generally it is violation of every moral rule established by religious usage or code of morality recognized by people to constitute a crime, some essential elements must be there and if any one of those elements missing, it would not be a crime.
General speaking, the law in general is a preservative instinct OF the individual and of the race. The primary function of criminal law is the preservation of life and protection of society. A crime may be said to be an act which any gives society considers to be sufficiently injurious to justify imposing punishment on the wrongdoer and prescribing a special procedure for dealing with it. There are some essential elements to constitute a crime.
2. Definition Of Crime:
Following are the different definitions of crime.
(I) According To Blackstone:
“An act committer or omitted in violation of public law forbidding or commanding it.”
3. Historical Back Ground
Crime is inevitable in human society. It is integral part of any human society. It is as old as human society itself.
4. characteristics Of Crime:
Following are different characteristics of crime:
(i) It is a harm brought about by human conduct which the sovereign power in the state desires to prevent.
(ii) It is against the public order and moral.
(iii) It is an act, which is against penal laws enacted by statute.
(iv) It is the threat of punishment that is selected among the measure of prevention.
(v) Proceeding of special kind are employed to decide whether the person accused did in-fact cause the harm.
5. Essential Elements Of Crime:
Following are the essential elements of crime:
(i) Human being
(ii) Mens Rea
(iii) Actue Reus
(iv) Injury
(I) Human Being:
The first essential element of crime requires that the act must be committed by a human being. In ancient times, punishments were inflicted on animals also for injury done by them, but now this practice is abandoned so to constitute a crime. There must be a human being who.
(i) Must be under legal obligation to act in a particular manner and,
(ii) Should be fit subject for award of appropriate punishment.
(II) Mens Rea:
The second essential of crime is mens rea (guilty mind). There can be no crime of any nature with an evil mind. Mens rea is the criminal state of mind of the accused.
(i) Use Of Mensrea in Different Senses:
According to Kenny, the team mensrea has been used by the court in two different senses.
a. To donote the accused person ‘ s attitude of mind to what he was doing, form which can be decided the question whether his conduct was or was not voluntary, and
b. To denote the accused person foresight of the consequences of what he was doing.
(ii) Form of Mensrea:
The form which mensrea assumes will depend on the provisions of the particular legal system. Criminal liability may require the wrongful act to be done intentionally or with some wrongful purpose in mind or with recklessly (conscious risk taking) and in each case the mental attitude of the door is such to make punishment effective.
(iii) Mensrea in P.P.C:
In P.P.C, mens rea has been applied in two different ways:
(i) The expressions fraudulently, dishonestly. Voluntarily and intentionally etc used in definitions indicate the criminal intent.
(ii) A separate chapter on general exceptions prescribes circumstances where absence of criminal intent may be presumed. This is the negative method of applying mensrea.
(iv)Exception to Mensrea:
a. Wrongs of Strict Liability:
Wrongs of strict liability are wrongs which are, exception to the rule of meas rea and in such cases, mensrea is not required to be proved.
b. Wrongs Excluded by Statute:
Mensrea may be excluded for certain offences, form a statute by necessary implications and it can be done only where it is absolutely clear that the implementation of the object of the statute would otherwise be defeated.
(III) Actusreus:
The third essential of crime is actus reus, or prescribed act Salmond calls it the physical or material condition of liability. If there is not act, there can be no punishment.
(i) Meaning of Actus Reus: According to poof Kenny:
“Such result of human conduct as the law seeks to prevent.”
(ii) Actus Reus Interested in Conduct:
Offence can be designated into two types:
(i) Result crimes
(ii) Conduct crimes
Actue reus is interested in conduct and much more often the actus reus requires proof of an act or an omission (conduct) for example a deed man with a knife in his back is not the actus reus of the murder. It is putting the knife in the back thereby causing the death which is the actus reus.
(iii) Components of Actus Reus:
The actus reus is constituted by the event and not by the activity which caused the event.
A deed may consist of harm and destruction of property and even the life, but is not a crime unless it is legally prohibited by law.
(iv) Components of Actus Reus:
Following are the components of actus Reus.
a. The conduct which is the central feature of the crime.
b. The surrounding circumstances
c. The consequences
(v) Conduct Must be Willed:
If the actus reus of the crime includes an act, it must be proved that defendant did that act voluntarily.
Exception:
Where the act was done while in state of intoxication self induced by taking alcohol or a durg. The defendant is liable.
(iv)causation:
When the definition of an actus reus requires the occurrence of certain consequences, it is necessary to prove that it was the conduct of the accused which cause those consequences to occur. For example in murder it is necessary to prove that the act of the accused caused the death, if the death came about solely thought some other cause, than the crime is not committed even thought all the other elements of the actus reus and means rea rea present.
“Case of which (1910)”
“Defendant put potassium cyanide into a drink with intent to murder his mother , but medical evidence showed that she died not poison but of heart failure. Although the consequences which . defendant intended occurred, he did not cause it to occur and there was no actus reus of murder and he was acquitted of murder.”
(vi)Completion of Actus Reus:
The autcs reus of an offence is complete in the following circumstance.
a. Where the Participation is Direct:
Where an accused himself commits the act and brings about the results himself e. g where A shoots at B and bring about B’s death.
b. Where the Participation is Indirect:
Acts reus is committed where A enrages an innocent person B and commits offence thought B for example where A puts poison into the cup of tea which he knows would be offered by B to C and thus kills C indirectly where c takes the tea not know to B.
c. Where Another Person has Intervened:
Where a third person has intervened in the act of the accused and if the result is due to the intervention, the accused is not responsible sine the result or harm is not consequence of what the prisoner did.
“R Vs Hilton (1938)”
“it was held that the death was not the act of the accused but of the person who set the engine in motion after the accused had gone away.”
(IV) Injury:
The fourth essential requirement in crime in injury to another person or to society at large. According to section 44P.P.C, the word injury denotes any harm whatever illegally caused to any person in body, mind reputation or property. It is very wide connotation and includes all injuries caused by tortuous act.
6. Conclusion:
To conclude, I can say, that crime is an act of omission or commission. Generally it is violation of every moral rule established by religious usage or code of morality recognized by people to constitute a crime, some essential elements must be there and if any one of those elements missing, it would not be a crime.
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