Burglary - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition burglary

Definition :

Burglary [fr. burg, Sax., a house, and larron, a thief, fr. latro, Lat.]. At Common Law burglary is the breaking and entering of the dwelling-house of another in the night-time with intent to commit a felony therein. S. 25 of the (English) Larceny Act, 1916, provides that-

Means the act of breaking and entering an inhabited structure (as a house) especially at night with intent to commit a felony (as murder or larcency), the act of entering or remaining unlawfully (as after closing to the public) in a building with intent to commit a crime (as a felony). The crime of burglary was originally defined under the common law to protect people, since there were other laws, Webster's Dictionary of Law, Indian Edn. (2005), p. 61.

Burglary, is the common law offence of breaking and entering another's dwelling at night with the intent to commit a felony. The modern statutory offence of breaking and entering any building not just a dwelling and not only at night - with the intent to commit a felony. Some statutes make petit larceny an alternative to a felony for purposes of proving burglarious intent, Black Law Dictionary, 7th Edn., p. 191.

Every person who in the night (1) Breaks and enters the dwelling-house of another with intent to commit any felony therein; or (2) breaks out of the dwelling-house of another, having (a) entered the said dwelling-house with intent to commit any felony therein; or (b) committed any felony in the said dwelling-house, shall be guilty of the felony called burglary and on conviction thereof liable to penal servitude for life.

S. 46 defines night as meaning 'the interval between nine o'clock in the evening and six o'clock in the morning of the succeeding day.' As to the meaning of dwelling-house, see s. 46(2). The felonious intent must exist, but need not be executed. The 'breaking,' which may be either actual, e.g., the forcing of a door or the opening of a window, or constructive, as where the offender obtains admittance by fraud, is a necessary part of the offence of burglary, although entry without a breaking in is a felony punishable with penal servitude not exceeding seven years (s. 27, ibid.). Burglary is triable at quarter sessions [s. 38, replacing s. 1 of the (English) Burglary Act, 1896].

The question whether and how far it is justifiable to kill a burglar is by no means clear. If violence on the part of the burglar be reasonably apprehended, it is not murder to shoot him dead with intent to kill him, but whether it is justifiable to kill merely in defence of property is doubtful. By s. 7 of the (English) Offences against the Person Act, 1861, 'no punishment or forfeiture shall be incurred by any person who shall kill another by misfortune or in his own defence, or in any other manner without felony,' and this kind of exculpation has been applied to unarmed burglary by high authorities. See 1 Hale, 481, 484; Archbold's Cr. Pl., 29th Edn., 893, and the authorities there cited, especially R. v. Scully, (1824) 1 C&P 319; 28 RR 780.