Crime - Law Dictionary Search Results
Preventive detention
Preventive detention. By the (English) Prevention of Crime Act, 1908 (8 Edw. 7, c. 59), s. 10, as amended by the (English) Indictments Act, 1915 (5 & 6 Geo. 5, c. 90), a person after three previous convictions after attaining sixteen years of age, can with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions, R. v. Waller, (1910) 1 KB 364, in certain cases be charged, R. v. Smith, (1910) 1 KB 17, with being an habitual criminal, and if the charge is established, he can, in addition to a punishment of penal servitude, receive a further sentence of not less than five years or more than ten years, called a sentence of preventive detention. During such detention the Secretary of State has power to let the person out on licence, if he is satisfied that there is a reasonable probability that he will abstain from crime and lead a useful an industrious life, or that he is no longer capable of engaging in crime. Unless the offender admits he is an habitual criminal the jury must determine whether...
Misdemeanour
Misdemeanour, 1. A crime that is less serious than a felony and is usually punishable by fine, penalty. Forfeiture or confinement in a place other than prison, Black's Law Dictionary, 7th Edn., p. 1014.Misdemeanour, a crime less than felony, as perjury, obtaining money by false pretences, endeavouring to conceal a birth, and fradulently obtaining property on credit and not having paid for it within four months of bankruptcy, which are misdemeanours by statute; and any attempt to commit a felony or misdemeanour, whether the crime attempted be so by statute or Common Law (Arch. Cr.Pl., 2); any disobedience of a statute, Reg. v. Hall, (1891) 1 QB 747; any incitement of another to commit a felony where no such felony is actually committed, Reg. v. Gregory, (1867) LR 1 CCR 77; sale of provisions unfit for food, R. v. Dixon, (1814) 3 M&S 11; public nuisances (see NUISANCE); and very many other offences, which are misdemeanours at Common Law. 'In the present state of our law we can only defin...
Mens rea
Mens rea, a guilty mind. See ACTUS NON FACIT REUM, NISI MENS SIT REA. Although prima facie and as a general rule there must be a mind at fault before there can be a crime, it is not an inflexible rule, and a statute may relate to such a subject-matter and may be so framed as to make an act criminal, whether there has been any intention to break the law or otherwise to do wrong or not. There is a large body of municipal law at the present day which is so conceived. Bye-laws are constantly made regulating the width of thoroughfares, the height of buildings, the thickness of walls and a variety of other matters necessary for the general welfare, health or commerce, and such bye-laws are enforced by the sanctions of penalties; the breach of them constitutes an offence and is a criminal matter.... and in such a case the substance of the enactment is that a man shall take care that the statutory direction is obeyed and that if he fails to do so he does so at his peril--WILLS, J., R. v. Tolso...
Confession
Confession, a statement in order to amount to a 'confession' must either admit in terms the offence, or at any rate substantially all the facts which constitute the offence. An admission of an incriminating fact, howsoever grave, is not byitself a confession. A statement which contains an exculpatory assertion of some fact, which if true, would negative the offence alleged cannot amount to a confession, Veera Ibrahim v. State of Maharashtra, (1976) 2 SCC 302: AIR 1976 SC 1167 (1171): (1967) 3 SCR 672. [Evidence Act (1 of 1987), s. 24]'Confession' in common acceptation means and implies acknowledgment of guilt--its evidentiary value and its acceptability however shall have to be assessed by the Court having due regard to the credibility of the witnesses. In the event, however, the Court is otherwise in a position having due regard to the attending circumstances believes the witness before whom the confession is made and is otherwise satisfied that the confession is in fact voluntary and...
principal
principal 1 : being the main or most important, consequential, or influential [their place of business] [the obligor] 2 : of, relating to, or constituting principal or a principal [the amount of the loan] n 1 : a participant in an action or transaction esp. having control or authority [the s of a business]: as a : one who engages another to act for him or her subject to his or her general control or instruction : one from whom an agent derives authority to act compare fiduciary b : one who commits a crime or instigates, encourages, or assists another to commit it esp. when constructively or actually present see also accessory principal in the first degree : a principal under common law who intentionally commits and is actually or constructively present at the commission of a crime principal in the second degree : a principal under common law who aids, encourages, or commands another to commit a crime and is actually or constructively present when it is committed c : the per...
Alibi
Alibi (elsewhere). It is a defence restored to where the party accused, in order to prove that he could not have committed the crime with which he is charged, offers evidence that he was in a different place at the time the offence was committed.Else ware, in law this term is used to express that defence in a criminal prosecution, where the party-accused, in order to prove that he could not have committed the crime charged against him, offers evidence that he was in a different place at that time. The plea taken should be capable of meaning that having regard to the time and place when and where he is alleged to have committed the offence, he could not have been present. The plea of alibi postulates the physical impossibility of the presence of the accused to the scene of offence by reason of his presence at another place. Denial by an accused of an assertion made by his employer that the accused was on leave of absence from duty on the date of offence does not, by any stretch of reaso...
lesser included offense
lesser included offense : a crime (as unlawful entry) that is by definition included in the commission of another crime (as burglary) which has additional elements and greater criminal liability called also included offense NOTE: A criminal defendant may be convicted of a lesser included offense even if not charged specifically with that crime. ...
diminished capacity
diminished capacity 1 : an abnormal mental condition that renders a person unable to form the specific intent necessary for the commission of a crime (as first-degree murder) but that does not amount to insanity called also diminished responsibility partial insanity compare insanity, irresistible impulse test, m'naghten test, substantial capacity test 2 a : a defense based on a claim of diminished capacity b : the doctrine that diminished capacity may negate an element of a crime NOTE: If diminished capacity is shown, negating an element of the crime with which a defendant is charged, the defendant can only be convicted of a lesser offense that does not include the element. ...
death penalty
death penalty : death as punishment for a crime called also capital punishment see also cruel and unusual punishment Gregg v. Georgia in the Important Cases section NOTE: The U.S. Supreme Court has held that the death penalty is not inherently violative of the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment, provided that the method is not deemed cruel and that the punishment is not excessive in relation to the crime. A statute mandating the death penalty is unconstitutional, however. A sentencing judge is required to consider any mitigating circumstances before imposing the death penalty for a crime. ...
burglary
burglary pl: -glar·ies [Anglo-French burglarie, modification of Medieval Latin burgaria, from burgare to break into (a house)] : the act of breaking and entering an inhabited structure (as a house) esp. at night with intent to commit a felony (as murder or larceny) ;also : 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) NOTE: The crime of burglary was originally defined under the common law to protect people, since there were other laws (as those defining larceny and trespass) that protected property. State laws have broadened the common-law crime. Entering at night is often no longer required and may be considered an aggravating factor. The building may be something other than a dwelling, such as a store or pharmacy. Some states (as Louisiana) have included vehicles under their burglary statute. There are degrees of burglary, and some of the usual aggravating factors are the presence of pe...
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