People and property

In democracies people are considered to have rights pertaining both to their persons and to their property. Crimes can therefore be classified into attacks on persons or on property.

Crimes against persons include homicide, assault and battery, mayhem, rape, and kidnapping. Homicide is the general term for killing an individual. It may refer to a killing that is not criminal, such as killing in self-defense or to prevent the commission of a serious felony.

Criminal homicide is classified according to the nature of the crime. Premeditated murder is the most serious offense. Manslaughter includes killings that are the result of recklessness or violent emotional outburst. Death through negligence, or carelessness, is often called negligent homicide.

Homicide is dealt with differently under various legal systems. Under European codes, for instance, bodily injury resulting in death and death that is the result of negligence are more heavily penalized than under Anglo-American systems. European codes, on the other hand, will normally not punish a person for a mercy killing, but Anglo-American codes do. And in some countries crimes of passion are more lightly punished than in others.

The terms assault and battery are normally combined in such a way as to seem a single offense. Battery is the unlawful use of physical force on another person, and assault is the attempt to commit battery. No great force is necessary to constitute a battery: A mere touch is sufficient. It is also a battery if one administers poisons or drugs or communicates a disease. Generally it is not a battery unless the act is done with intent to do harm or with gross criminal negligence. Assault, as intent to harm, must carry with it a threat of more or less immediate danger, some obvious act that threatens battery.

Mayhem is similar to battery, but it is a more severe crime because it deprives the victim of a part of his body, hand, arm, eye rendering him less able to defend himself. In some jurisdictions, or areas of legal authority, maiming or disfigurement constitutes mayhem. Some jurisdictions do not distinguish between battery and mayhem at all. Japan, for instance, treats all batteries similarly. And law in India divides bodily harm into “hurts” and “grievous hurts”.

Rape is the most serious of sexual offenses and is punished by death in some countries. Now, in most countries, it normally results in imprisonment. The term statutory rape refers to an individual’s having sexual relations with a child, even with the child’s consent. In France statutory rape also refers to laws against taking advantage of subservient persons such as employees or wards.

Kidnapping is the unlawful carrying away of a person by force or unlawful seizure and detention.

The crimes against property are theft and larceny, embezzlement, forgery, counterfeiting, receiving stolen property, robbery, burglary, arson, and trespass. Most of these crimes involve stealing in one form or another, but distinctions are made between them to indicate the seriousness of the offense. Theft is the general term covering larceny, robbery, and burglary. Larceny is the taking away of personal goods without the owner’s consent. Robbery is a form of larceny involving violence or the threat of violence against the victim. Burglary is defined as the breaking and entering of a building with the intent to commit a theft or some other felony. The common street crime called mugging combines robbery with assault and battery.

Embezzlement is the illegal taking for one’s own use of goods usually money by someone to whom the goods have been entrusted. Bank employees, for example, have been found guilty of embezzling the bank’s funds.

Receiving stolen property is a crime because one becomes what is called an “accessory after the fact”. This is a degree of participation in crime by agreeing to it and cooperating with the criminal. The purpose of receiving stolen property is to sell it. The person who does the selling is called a fence because he acts as a barrier between the criminal and the sale of stolen property.

Arson is the unlawful and voluntary burning of property. If the fire causes death, the arsonist is considered guilty of murder even if there was no intent to kill. The property burned need not be someone else’s. Many persons have been convicted of burning their own property in order to collect insurance money.

Trespass is the unauthorized entry upon land. Neither knowledge of what one is doing nor malice is necessary for a trespass to be committed. Once a trespass is proved, the trespasser is usually held accountable for any resulting damages.