law of crime.pptx #1234@5688crime nd law

This PPT covers element of crime and kinds of criminal liability

1. KHUSHI KAUSHIK 221910026 BA PSYCHOLOGY 3 RD SEMESTER Subject – law of crime

2. TOPIC - ELEMENTS OF CRIME AND KINDS OF CRIMINAL LIABILITY

3. INTRODUCTION Every country usually has its own set of codified laws describing various crimes and punishments. In India, this can be either the Indian Penal Code or any other special criminal laws. Regardless of which laws we refer to, there are always some elements of crime common to all of them. These elements generally constitute the backbone of every criminal case .

4. The main criminal laws in India include the Indian Penal Code, Indian Evidence Act and Criminal Procedure Code. People often refer to these three as general laws. Apart from these three laws, we also have other laws that relate to specific kinds of offences.
For example, the Prevention of Money Laundering Act deals with particular financial crimes. Even other laws that do not specifically regulate crimes, like the Companies Act, contain some offences and penalties.
The most important thing common in all these laws is that they contain certain basic elements. The following are four basic elements of crime: Accused person Mens rea Actus reus Injury

5. ACCUSED PERSON No crime can ever occur out of thin air because that would simply be an accident. In order to constitute a crime, it is important for somebody to commit it. The law should always be able to pinpoint the person who is responsible for committing an offence.
The term accused “person” does not suggest that only a human being can commit offences. According to Section 11 of IPC, the term “person” also includes a company and an association or body of persons. Therefore, even a trust, an NGO and a public company can commit offences.Furthermore , certain offences can implicate more than one person for the same crime. In such cases, all persons will face trial and may have to face punishment together.

6. MENS REA A mere person will never commit a crime unless he possesses some intention to commit it. The law generally refers to this intention as mens rea, which means “guilty mind” in Latin.
The term mens rea has been derived from a famous Latin maxim: Actus non factit reum nesi mens sit rea. This basically means that an act cannot be guilty if it does not accompany a guilty mind.
The element of mens rea itself comprises of certain inherent elements. These include intention, motive or knowledge. Which of these elements must exist in order to constitute an offence generally depends on the relevant provision.
For example, Section 300 of IPC contains various kinds of acts which amount to the offence of murder. These acts may include an act done with the “intention” of causing bodily injury sufficient to cause death.

7. CRIMES IN THE ABSENCE OF MENS REA Although mens rea is an essential element of crime, some offences can occur without it. For example, Section 304-A of IPC makes death by negligence a criminal offence. In such cases, a “negligent act” would not include the intention to cause death. However, negligence or mistake itself is sufficient to constitute a crime.

8. ACTUS REUS Merely possessing a guilty mind and thinking of committing a crime is not enough. The accused person must also act on that intention and do something in its furtherance. Actus reus basically refers to an act or omission which leads to the completion of an offence. Both mens rea, as well as actus reus , together are important to create an offence. Actus reus can be a positive act, such as stabbing a person to cause his death. It can also be an omission (failure) to perform an action. For example, driving a vehicle without a driving license is an omission.

9. INJURY The last of the basic elements of crime is an injury. There can be no crime if no person faces some kind of an injury. According to Section 44 of IPC, “injury” means any harm caused to a person illegally either in mind, body, reputation or property.
However, there can be some crimes which might not require injuries to anybody. For example, driving without a driving license is a crime even if it may not harm anybody.

10. CRIMINAL LIABILITY Criminal liability can be categorized into three types i.e. individual, group and constructive liability, which are as follows:
Individual Criminal Liability
An offence or unlawful activity can be committed by an individual or group of individuals. When an individual commit a crime, he/she is responsible for criminal liability of a committed crime.
For example, there are four friends A, B, C and D. They live in a same flat, and study in same college. One day, A beats D because of some issue between them. In this case, A will be liable for unlawful act, B and C will not have any liability. Hence, case of A is perfect example of an individual criminal liability.

11. KINDS OF CRIMINAL LIABILITY Group Criminal Liability or Joint Liability
Group criminal liability is just contradictory to individual criminal liability. In crimes, where two or more people are involved in the commission of crime, in such cases all the people are liable for committing a crime. In group liability, along with direct participant, indirect participants are also caught, though punishment in crime, committed by group, can be same for all or different based on their role in the crime.
Most of the planned or organized crimes come under the category of group criminal liability. In the Indian Penal Code, 1860, provisions regarding group liability have been covered under joint liability. Section 34 to 38 of the IPC, 1860, embodies the principle of joint liability in committing crime.

12. SECTION 34 Acts Done by Several Persons in Furtherance of Common Intention (Section 34)
When a criminal act is done by several persons in furtherance of the common intention of all, each of such persons is liable for that act in the same manner as if it were done by him alone. SECTION 35 OF THE ACT This section covers ‘An act which is criminal by reason of its being done with a criminal knowledge or intention’.
As per the provisions of this section, whenever an act, which is criminal only by reason of its being done with a criminal knowledge or intention, is done by several persons, each of such persons who joins in the act with such knowledge or intention is liable for the act in the same manner as if the act were done by him alone with that knowledge or intention.

13. EFFECT CAUSED PARTLY BY ACT AND PARTLY BY OMISSION SECTION -36 Wherever the causing of a certain effect, or an attempt to cause that effect, by an act or by an omission, is an offence, it is to be understood that the causing of that effect partly by an act and partly by an omission is the same offence.

For example, A intentionally causes Z’s death, partly by illegally omitting to give Z food, and partly by beating Z. A has committed murder

14. CONSTRUCTIVE LIABILITY Constructive liability is quite similar to the group or joint liability. It is based on the principle that a person is liable, in law, for the consequences of an act of another, even though he has not done it himself. Many times, it has been found that a person who committed crime was just an instrument, while actual and principal offender was another person. A case of an abetment is perfect example of constructive liability.
In Alauddin Mian v. State of Bihar case, explaining the importance of Section 149 of the Indian Penal Code, the Supreme Court has observed that this section creates constructive liability and makes every member of the unlawful assembly, liable for the offence or offences committed in the course of the occurrence, provided that the same was/were committed in prosecution of the common object or was/were such as the members of that assembly knew to be likely to be committed.

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