Methods and Stages

8/19/2019 Methods and Stages

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STAGES OF CRIMES

Guided By Miss Pronami Dutt

SUBMITTED BY:

AYESHA ALIB.A. LL.B. (HONS.) 3RD SEMESTER

2ND YEAR


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Firstly, I would like to express my profound sense of gratitude towards the

Almighty “ALLAH” for providing me with the authentic circumstances which

were mandatory for the completion of my research work

I am also thankful to Miss Pronami Dutt, for her invalua!le support,

encouragement, supervision and useful suggestions throughout this pro"ect

work Her moral support and continuous guidance ena!led me to complete my

work successfully Her intellectual thrust and !lessings motivated me to work

rigorously on this study In fact this study could not have seen the light of the

day if her contri!ution had not !een availa!le It would !e no exaggeration to

say that it is her unflinching faith and un#uestioning support that has provided

the sustenance necessary to see it through to its present shape

Among those who have sustained me over the years with their loyalty and

friendship I express my deep sincere gratitude towards my parents for their

!lessing, patience, and moral support in the successful pursuing the LL$

course I express my gratitude to my all teachers and friends who has supported

and encouraged me during my study at Faculty of Law, %amia &illia Islamia,

'ew (elhi

Ayesha Ali

$ALL$ )Hons* +rdemester

-nd.ear


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

/ 0eneral Introduction1111111111111111111111111 2

- History 1111111111111111111111111111113

+ (efinition of 4rime1111111111111111111111111 52 tages of 4rime111111111111111111111111111111//

6 4onclusion 1111111111111111111111111111111/6

6. $i!liography1111111111111111111111111111111/3

GENERAL INTRODUCTION


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WHAT IS A CRIME7 8e must answer this #uestion at the outset In order to

answer this #uestion we must know first, what is law !ecause the two #uestions

are closely interrelated7 9raditionally, we know a law to !e a command

en"oining a course of conduct 9he command may !e of a sovereign or of

political superiors to the political inferiors: or it may !e the command of a

legally constituted !ody or a legislation emanating from a duly constituted

legislature to all the mem!ers of the society A crime may, therefore, !e an act of

diso!edience to such a law for!idding or commanding it $ut then diso!edience

of all laws may not !e a crime, for instance, diso!edience of civil laws or laws

of inheritance or contracts 9herefore, a crime would mean something more than

a mere diso!edience to a law, ;it means an act which is both forbidden by law

and revolting to the moral sentiments of the society." 9hus ro!!ery or murder

would !e a crime, !ecause they are revolting to the moral sentiments of the

society, !ut a diso!edience of the revenue laws or the laws of contract would not

constitute a crime 9hen again, ;the moral sentiments of a society; is a flexi!le

term, !ecause they may change, and they do change from time to time with the

growth of the pu!lic opinion and the social necessities of the times o also, the

moral values of one country may !e and often are #uite contrary to the moral

values of another country 9o cite a few instances, heresy was a crime at one

time in most of the countries of the world, !ecause in those days it offended the

moral sentiments of the society It was punished with !urning $ut no!ody is

punished nowadays for his religious !eliefs, not even in a theocratic state 9hereason is o!vious 'ow it does not offend the moral sentiments of the society

Adultery is another such instance It is a crime punisha!le under our


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&ohammedans or 4hristians $ut 4hristians are for!idden to practice polygamy

under their law of marriage, while &ohammedans are yet immune from

punishment for polygamy All these instances go to show that the content of

crime changes from time to time in the same country and from country to

country at the same time !ecause it is conditioned !y the moral value approved

of !y a particular society in a particular age in a particular country A crime of

yesterday may !ecome a virtue tomorrow and so also a virtue of yesterday may

!ecome acrime tomorrow uch !eing the content of crime, all attempts made

from time to time !eginning with $lackstone down to >enny in modern times to

define it have proved a!ortive 9herefore, the present writer agrees with ?ussell

when he o!serves that ;to define crime is a task which so far has not been

satisfactorily accomplished by any writer. In fact, criminal offences are

basically the creation of the criminal policy adopted from time to time by those

sections of the community who are powerful or astute enough to safeguard their

own security and comfort by causing the sovereign power in the state to repress

conduct which they feel may endanger their position; $ut a student em!arking

on study of principles of criminal law must understand the chief characteristics

and the true attri!utes of a crime 9hough a crime, as we have seen, is difficult

of a definition in the true sense of the term, a definition of a crime must give us

;the whole thing and the sole thing,; telling us something that shall !e true of

every crime and yet not !e true of any other conceiva!le non@criminal !reach of

law 8e cannot produce such a definition of crime as might !e flexi!le enoughto !e true in all countries, in all ages and in all times 'evertheless, a crime may

!e descri!ed and its attri!utes and characteristics !e clearly understood In order

to achieve this o!"ect, we propose to adopt two ways, namely, first, we shall

distinguish crime from civil and moral wrongs, and secondly, we shall critically

examine all the definitions constructed !y the eminent criminal "urists from time

to time


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4riminal law is a !ody of rules and statutes that defines conduct prohi!ited !y

the state !ecause it threatens and harms pu!lic safety and welfare and that

esta!lishes punishment to !e imposed for the commission of such acts 4riminal

law differs from civil law, whose emphasis is more on dispute resolution than in

punishment

9he term criminal law generally refers to su!stantive criminal laws u!stantive

criminal laws define crimes and prescri!e punishments In contrast, 4riminal


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the theological notion of 0ods penalty )poenaaeterna* that was inflicted solely

for a guilty mind, !ecame transfused into canon law first and, finally, to secular

criminal law 9he development of the state dispensing "ustice in a court clearly

emerged in the eighteenth century when European countries !egan maintaining

police services From this point, criminal law had formaliBed the mechanisms

for enforcement, which allowed for its development as a discerni!le entity

D"#$itio$ o% Ci&"

&any "urists have defined crime in their own ways some of which are as underG

• $lackstone defined crime as an act committed or omitted in violation of a

pu!lic law either for!idding or commanding it

• tephen o!served a crime is a violation of a right considered in reference

to the evil tendency of such violation as regards the community at large

• Dxford (ictionary defines crime as an act punisha!le !y law as for!idden

!y statute or in"urious to the pu!lic welfare

&any prominent "urists have made attempts to define 4rimeG ir 8illiam

$lackstone in his classical work, 4ommentaries on the Laws of England,

olume I, which is devoted to


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the definition of crime would remain too narrow 9he 0ermans, on the other

hand, interpret ; public law; to mean !oth constitutional law and criminal law In

this sense, thedefinition given !y $lackstone ceases to define !ecause we shall

!e using criminal law in defining a crime 9hen again, some take "public law;

to mean positive law or municipal law, which would mean all laws made !y the

state In that sense, the definition given !y $lackstone o!viously !ecome too

wide, for the crime will include every legal wrong or violation of law

9herefore, this definition given !y $lackstone is not satisfactory

'ow we pass on to the second definition given !y the same "urist, $lackstone

He defines crime as a violation of the pu!lic rights and duties due to the

whole community considered as a community 9his definition has !een slightly

altered !y the learned editor of $lackstone, Serjeant Stephen, who expresses it

thusG A crime is a violation of a right considered in reference to the evil

tendency of such violation as regards the community at large

As regards the reconstructed definition, it might !e o!served that it introduces anew error, namely, it limits crimes to violations of rights only, whereas

$lackstone applied it to a violation of !oth a right and a duty Instances of a

violation of a duty amounting to crimes are numerous, for example, !eing in

possession of house@!reaking tools !y night or possession of counterfeit coins

Jndou!tedly the idea incorporated in the definition given !y $lackstone as well

as !y his learned editor tephen is very important, namely, that crimes are

!reaches of those laws which in"ure the community 9he same was the idea

which was noted !y the ?oman "urists as well 9herefore they called crimes

delictapublica and the criminal trials judiciapublica Indeed, if only a rough,

general description of crime were to !e given then pu!lic mischief could !e

made the salient feature of the crime, !ut this alone would not suffice for a

definition It would !e a vague fact for a definition of a crime 9here are many

things which are only !reaches of contract and are in"urious to the community


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!ut they are not crimes, for example, the negligent management of the affairs of

a company, which may !ring a!out a calamity to the community greater than

that produced !y a thief stealing an article 9he latter is a crime, while the

former is only a wrong and not a crime Dn the other hand, a conduct may

amount to a crime, though instead of !ringing an evil to the community it may

!ring some good to the community For instance, constructing a sloping

causeway, though it might facilitate the landing of passengers and goods, is an

offence of common nuisance 9herefore, the definition of crime that it is a legal

wrong, if it tends to cause evil to the community, is not correct It is, of course,

an instructive general description of it

Fundamental Elements of 4rimeG 9here are four elements which go to constitute

a crime, these areG@

• Human !eing

• &ensrea or guilty intention

• Actus reus or illegal act or omission

• In"ury to another human !eing

H'&$ B"i$

9he first element re#uires that the wrongful act must !e committed !y a human

!eing In ancient times, when criminal law was largely dominated !y the idea of

retri!ution, punishments were inflicted on animals also for the in"ury caused !y

them, for example, a pig was !urnt in


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ection // of the Indian


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reputation or property as according to ection 22 of I


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and keeps the same in his pocket duly loaded in order to kill his !itter enemy $,

!ut does nothing more A has not committed any offence as still he is at the

stage of preparation and it will !e impossi!le for the prosecution to prove that A

was carrying the loaded pistol only for the purpose of killing $

Preparation When Punishable@ 0enerally, preparation to commit any offence

is not punisha!le !ut in some exceptional cases preparation is punisha!le:

following are some examples of such exceptional circumstances@

•


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• 0uilty intention to commit an offence:

• ome act done towards the commission of the offence:

• 9he act must fall short of the completed offence

Attempt Under The Indian Penal Code, !"#$ 9he Indian


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/ 4ompleted offences and attempts have !een dealt in the same ection and

same punishment is prescri!ed EgG 8aging 8ar and Attempting to 8age

8ar )ec /-/*

- In certain cases, punishments for attempt to offences and completedoffences are dealt separately EgG


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CONCLUSION4rimes can !e complex, !ut we can !reak them down into simpler features

Each offense can !e !roken down into three stages ery different crimes can !e

descri!ed with the same sentence structure and diagram techni#ues tages of

crime does not find any mention in the Indian


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REFERENCES

1. Websites

1. http://www.lawnotes.in/

2. http://www.legalservicesindia.com/

3. us.sagepub.com

2. Books

1. Kaur, K., Textbook of Indian Penal Code, 2!1"

2. #illai, #$%, Criminal Law, 12th &d., 2!1"
http://www.lawnotes.in/http://www.legalservicesindia.com/http://www.legalservicesindia.com/http://www.lawnotes.in/

Methods and Stages

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