A Complete Guide To Criminal Law

Indian criminal laws are divided into three major acts i.n. Indian Penal Code, 1860, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and Indian Evidence Act, 1872.Besides these major acts, special Criminal Laws are also passed by the Indian Parliament i.e. NDPS, Prevention of Corruption Act, Food Adulteration Act, Dowry Prohibition Act,the Defence of India Act,etc. thousands of minor laws are made in India.

Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self.  Most criminal law is established by statute, which is to say that the laws are enacted by a legislature.Criminal law includes the punishment and rehabilitation of people who violate such laws.

Criminal law varies according to jurisdiction, and differs from civil law, where emphasis is more on dispute resolution and victim compensation, rather than on punishment or rehabilitation.

Criminal procedure is a formalized official activity that authenticates the fact of commission of a crime and authorizes punitive or rehabilitative treatment of the offender.

On March 21, 2013, the rape law in the country was amended. The new tougher anti-rape law -- Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 -- to punish sex crimes redefined rape and made punishments more stringent -- including death for repeat rape offenders.

But despite the stricter law, weak policing and investigation haven't deterred rape, the fourth-most common crime against women in India, according to government statistics. In the absence of systemic and procedural reform, the law has failed to attain its primary objective, evident by the similarly brutal cases in recent weeks.

Punishment for murder. Whoever commits murder shall be punished with death, or 1[imprisonment for life] and shall also be liable to fine.

There are two types of criminal laws: misdemeanors and felonies. A misdemeanor is an offense that is considered a lower level criminal offense, such as minor assaults, traffic offenses, or petty thefts. In contrast, felony crimes involve more serious offenses. Some examples of felonies include murder, manslaughter, dealing drugs, rape, robbery, and arson. In virtually every state in the U.S., felonies carry a penalty of one year or more, depending upon the particular nature of the offense and the jurisdiction where the felony crime was committed. In addition, every state has a different body of criminal laws which vary from state to state. There are also federal criminal law statutes which apply to every state in the U.S.

In general, every crime involves three elements: first, the act or conduct (“actus reus”); second, the individual's mental state at the time of the act (“mens rea”); and third, the causation between the act and the effect (typically either "proximate causation" or "but-for causation").

In a criminal prosecution, the government has the burden of proof to establish every element of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt.

According to the Supreme Court in Elonis v. United States, 575 U.S. __ (2015), when a statute does not prescribe a specific mental state, a court will infer the “mens rea which is necessary to separate wrongful from innocent conduct.”

Many types of crime exist. Criminologists commonly group crimes into several major categories: (1) violent crime; (2) property crime; (3) white-collar crime; (4) organized crime; and (5) consensual or victimless crime. Within each category, many more specific crimes exist.For example, violent crime includes homicide, aggravated and simple assault, rape and sexual assault, and robbery, while property crime includes burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson. Because a full discussion of the many types of crime would take several chapters or even an entire book or more, we highlight here the most important dimensions of the major categories of crime and the issues they raise for public safety and crime control.

The principle that if the highest appellate court has determined a legal question and returned the case to the court below for additional proceedings, the question will not be determined differently on a subsequent appeal in the same case where the facts remain the same.

The law of the case expresses the rule that the final judgment of the highest court is the final determination of the rights of the parties. The doctrine of "law of the case" is one of policy only, however, and will be disregarded when compelling circumstances require a redetermination of the point of law decided on the prior appeal. Such circumstances exist when an intervening or contemporaneous change in the law has transpired by the establishment of new precedent by a controlling authority or the overruling of former decisions.

Courts have ruled that instructions—directions given by the judge to the jury concerning the law applicable to the case—are the "law of the case" where the appealing defendant, the petitioner, accepted the instructions as correct at the time they were given.

The six categories of criminal law violations are felonies, misdemeanors, offenses, treason, espionage and inchoate offenses.

Prison

Prison Is The Most Common Form Of Criminal Punishment.

A prison is a facility that holds offenders who have been convicted, or found guilty, of serious crimes. The government uses prisons to keep them in the custody of the state and under a controlled environment for a certain amount of time, which varies depending upon the circumstances of their confinement; also, these facilities are used to separate them from society. Prisons propose education and health care to their inmates, but also offer danger to them. Prisons are a serious place with a variety of ethics.

The phenomenology of the crimes themselves calls into question some of the purposes traditionally attributed to criminal law and to punishment: in particular, special deterrence, general deterrence and retribution or desert. In addition, there is a marked tendency to entrust to criminal law the achieving of new aims that are central to all transitional processes, such as the search for truth, the building of peace, and the founding of the new social and legal order arising as a result of the transition.

The term criminal law generally refers to substantive criminal laws.Substantive criminal laws define crimes and may establish punishments. In contrast, Criminal Procedure describes the process through which the criminal laws are enforced. For example, the law prohibiting murder is a substantive criminal law. The manner in which the government enforces this substantive law—through the gathering of evidence and prosecution—is generally considered a procedural matter.

Crimes are usually categorized as felonies or misdemeanors based on their nature and the maximum punishment that can be imposed. A felony involves serious misconduct that is punishable by death or by imprisonment for more than one year. Most state criminal laws subdivide felonies into different classes with varying degrees of punishment. Crimes that do not amount to felonies are misdemeanors or violations. A misdemeanor is misconduct for which the law prescribes punishment of no more than one year in prison. Lesser offenses, such as traffic and parking infractions, are often called violations and are considered a part of criminal law.

Criminal law deals with behavior that is or can be construed as an offense against the public, society, or the state—even if the immediate victim is an individual. Examples are murder, assault, theft,and drunken driving.Civil law deals with behavior that constitutes an injury to an individual or other private party, such as a corporation. Examples are defamation (including libel and slander), breach of contract, negligence resulting in injury or death, and property damage.

Many types of crime exist. Criminologists commonly group crimes into several major categories: (1) violent crime; (2) property crime; (3) white-collar crime; (4) organized crime; and (5) consensual or victimless crime. Within each category, many more specific crimes exist.

Visible crime is any crime that we can observe with the naked eye. Visible crimes are everything from shoplifting to homicide, virtually every crime that can be committed and are acts that the public consider criminal. Visible crime is also called street crime or ordinary crime.

There are three types of visible crime: violent crime, property crime, and public order crime.

Violent Crimes are crimes against people in which physical injury or death results on another person. Assault and battery, rape, and murder are all types of violent crimes.

Property Crimes are acts that threaten property held by the state government or an individual. Vandalism is an example of property crime.

Public Order Crimes are acts that threaten the well-being of society. A terrorist group threatening to bomb a government or any type of building is an example of a public order crime.

In every state, crimes are put into distinct categories. The categories are usually "felony," "misdemeanor," and "infraction." Decisions on crime classification are made by state legislators; the determination focuses on the seriousness of the crime.

Felonies are the most serious type of crime and are often classified by degrees, with a first degree felony being the most serious. They include terrorism, treason, arson, murder, rape, robbery, burglary, and kidnapping, among others.People who have been convicted of a felony are called felons. Repeat felons are punished extra harshly because sentencing laws take into consideration their criminal history.

Class A felonies (or level 1 felonies) are the most serious of crimes. Examples of class A felonies can include: first degree murder, rape and kidnapping. Because these types of crimes are considered to be the worst of the worst; the most severe penalties are imposed for class A (level 1) felonies.

In comparison, class B felonies (or level 2 felonies) are less severe than class A felonies. These crimes are still very serious and carry weighty penalties. Manslaughter, robbery, some drug-related crimes as well as some sexual crimes fall into this category.

Class C (or level 3) felonies can include theft (in some jurisdictions), driving under the influence (DUI), some drug offenses and the possession of stolen property.

A “wobbler” is a crime that can be punished as either a felony or a misdemeanor in California. In most cases, it is the prosecutor who decides whether to charge a wobbler as a felony or a misdemeanor. But judges can also decide to punish a wobbler as a misdemeanor.And even if the defendant is convicted of a wobbler felony, he or she may be able to file a petition to reduce a felony conviction to a misdemeanor.

Other examples of street crime include pickpocketing, the open illegal drugs trade, prostitution in the form of soliciting outside the law, the creation of graffiti and vandalism of public property, and assaults. As a generic term, street crime may include all of these, as well as offenses against private properties such as the stealing of hub caps.

The majority of street crimes, as portrayed by various news media, are initiated by criminals seeking quick financial gains. However, they can also be carried out by organized individuals with a common goal of profiteering. On the other hand, not all of these instances are considered by the FBI to be "organized crimes" due to the random nature of the crimes themselves. The term "organized crime" does not often include organized street crimes.

All the four death row convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case were executed on Friday (March 20) at 5.30 am hours after the Supreme Court and the trial court rejected their last-minute plea against their sentence, ending their bid to stave off the final fate.

Lawyer AP Singh

Nirbhaya Case Lawyer AP Singh to Defend 4 Upper Caste Men Accused in Hathras Gangrape Case. AP Singh, who fought in defence of the four rapists accused in 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case, will be defending the four men accused in the Hathras case, reports surfaced on Monday

Speaking to The Quint, PS Kushwah, DCP, Special Cell, Delhi Police said, “It was a tough case to crack because there was no clue initially. They (the team) collected the clinching evidence in the form of a video clip which was available from a hotel near the airport wherein this bus is seen going twice.And that was a major reason we suspected as to why a bus is going from the same spot twice—once at 9:34 p.m. and again at 9:54 p.m.”

Chhaya Sharma

Meet Chhaya Sharma, the firebrand cop who cracked the Nirbhaya case.Chhaya Sharma, the then DCP (south) of Delhi Police, was little known in the years that followed, but stories of her treatment of the case – how she chose to work on it herself and cracked it in no time with very vague leads –have lived on.

Apart from the 2012 rape case, Sharma also played an important part solving several cases such as the Baby Falak case, the Ponty Chaddha case, the bank heist in Defence Colony, the arrest of Namdhari, and the murder of Deepak Bharadwaj.

The four death row convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case, who were hanged in Tihar jail early morning on Friday, did not take a bath and also skipped their breakfast, the last meal, before the execution of sentence.

All four convicts - Akshay Singh Thakur, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma, and Mukesh Singh - were hanged to death at 5:30 am this morning.

The 23-year-old gang-rape victim , battling for life in a Delhi hospital, has been named "Damini" by thousands of people who are supporting her on the streets and via social networking sites. The name draws inspiration from a Hindi film on a woman's fight for justice for a rape victim.

Outside Safdarjung Hospital, where the girl is battling for life after her brutal gang-rape by six men in a moving bus in south Delhi Dec 16, people gathered Sunday with placards that said "Damini tum sangharsh karo, hum tumhare sath hain" (struggle Damini, we are with you).

"Damini" was a Hindi film, released in 1993, featuring a woman's struggle against society and her family for justice for a rape victim.

Her friend was knocked down with a rod and the men dragged her to the back of the bus and repeatedly gang-raped for over an hour. As she fought back, one of the juvenile attackers inserted an iron rod into her private parts, pulling and ripping her intestines apart.The bus driver drove all over Delhi while this was happening. After the attack, both of them were thrown out of the bus to die at the side of the road. The two were found half-dead by a passerby who informed the Delhi Police. She was taken to the Safdarjung Hospital where doctors found she had only five per cent intestines left inside her body. She succumbed to her injuries on December 29, 2012. In her statement to Police, she said she wanted justice against the six attackers. The incident led to widespread demonstrations and protests across the country. It also started changes in the laws about violence against women.

Section 378 in The Indian Penal Code. (a) A cuts down a tree on Z's ground, with the intention of dishonestly taking the tree out of Z's possession without Z's consent. Here, as soon as A has severed the tree in order to such taking, he has committed theft.

Section 420 in the Indian Penal Code deals with Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property. The maximum punishment which can be awarded is imprisonment for a term of 7 year and fine.

Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property.: Whoever cheats and thereby dishonestly induces the person deceived to deliver any property to any person, or to make, alter or destroy the whole or any part of a valuable security, or anything which is signed or sealed, and which is capable of being converted into a valuable security, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable fine.

Types Of Offences Covered

All such offences are covered by Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), which are mentioned in Indian Penal Code. For example Murder, Theft, Kidnapping, Rape, Forgery, etc. The legal meaning and whether an act will constitute a criminal offence or not is provided in the I.P.C.

One proposed definition is that a crime or offence (or criminal offence) is an act harmful not only to some individual but also to a community, society, or the state ("a public wrong"). Such acts are forbidden and punishable by law.

The notion that acts such as murder, rape, and theft are to be prohibited exists worldwide.What precisely is a criminal offence is defined by criminal law of each country. While many have a catalogue of crimes called the criminal code, in some common law countries no such comprehensive statute exists.

“offence” means any act or omission made punishable by any law for the time being in force and includes any act in respect of which a complaint may be made under section 20 of the Cattle-trespass Act, 1871 (1 of 1871);

·Blackstone defined crime as an act committed or omitted in violation of a public law either forbidding or commanding it. · 

Stephen observed a crime is a violation of a right considered in reference to the evil tendency of such violation as regards the community at large.

Oxford Dictionary defines crime as an act punishable by law as forbidden by statute or injurious to the public welfare

1) A popular term for anyone who has committed a crime, whether convicted of the offense or not. More properly, it applies only to those actually convicted of a crime. Repeat offenders are sometimes called habitual criminals. 2) Certain acts or people involved in or relating to a crime. Examples include "criminal taking," "criminal conspiracy," a "criminal gang."

There must be (1) an act or omission; (2) punishable by the Revised Penal Code; and (3) the act is performed or the omission incurred by means of dolo or culpa.

Explain the two basic functions of criminal law. The primary function is to protect citizens from harms to their safety and property and from harms to society collectively. The second function is to maintain and teach social values as well as social boundaries-for example, laws against bigamy and speed limits.

At the very outset, it is clarified that yes a bail can be granted even in cases of Non-Bailable offences under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). The difference being that bail is a matter of right if the offence is bailable and is a matter of discretion if the offence is non-bailable.

The expression “police report” has been defined under the Code of Criminal Procedure as meaning a report forwarded by a Police Officer to a Magistrate under sub section (2) of Section 173 [2] . Simply stated, the final report culminates the investigation process in a formal recommendation for action.

The Crime Triangle identifies three factors that create a criminal offense. Desire of a criminal to commit a crime; Target of the criminal's desire; and the Opportunity for the crime to be committed. You can break up the Crime Triangle by not giving the criminal the Opportunity.

Types of sentences include probation, fines, short-term incarceration, suspended sentences, which only take effect if the convict fails to meet certain conditions, payment of restitution to the victim, community service, or drug and alcohol rehabilitation for minor crimes. More serious sentences include long-term incarceration, life-in-prison, or the death penalty in capital murder cases.

Four major goals are usually attributed to the sentencing process: retribution, rehabilitation, deterrence, and incapacitation. Retribution refers to just deserts: people who break the law deserve to be punished. The other three goals are utilitarian, emphasizing methods to protect the public.

Trial lawyers are the highest paid professionals till today and the salary depends upon the location and also the materiality and the importance of the case. Top senior advocates who handle high profile matters in Delhi and Mumbai. Senior advocates like Mr. Ram Jethmalani and Mr.

Criminal law in India means offenses against the state, it includes felonies and misdemeanors. The standard of proof for crimes is beyond a reasonable doubt. Criminal law is governed by Indian penal Code, Crpc, evidence Act etc.

There are five types of legal system i.e. civil law; common law; customary law; religious law and mixed law. In Indian Judicial System there are four types of law. The Criminal law is enforced by the police.

The IPC has been amended numerous times since then and is now supplemented by various other criminal provisions. At present, the IPC is divided into 23 chapters and contains 511 sections in total.

IPC is the criminal code that covers all laws related to criminal offences established by the Constitution of India. The Constitution is the framework that rules a territory and its population. But IPC is one of the laws which is intended to protect those within the territory.

Mandatory Examination of accused by the Court • Evidence by Accused, if any, in defense. Commission of a cognizable offence Refusal of Police to register complaint/FIR Filing of a private criminal complaint against the offender before competent Cognizance of the commission of the offence and inquiry by the court.

A criminal case, in common law jurisdictions, begins when a person suspected of a crime is indicted by a grand jury or otherwise charged with the offense by a government official called a prosecutor or district attorney. A criminal case may in some jurisdictions be settled before a trial through a plea bargain.

13, 2011) As reported in early September 2011, India's Supreme Court has ruled that Indian citizens who commit crimes while abroad can in some cases be tried in India. ... 6, 1860), Indian Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) website; the Code was amended by the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, Act No. 2 of 2006

Under the CrPC, criminal trials have been categorized into four divisions having different procedures, called Session, warrant, summons and summary trials. Sec 225-237 deals with warrant cases by a court of Session.

The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal trial against an individual accused of breaking the law. Typically, the prosecutor represents the government in the case brought against the accused person.

As opposed to ordinary bail, which is granted to a person who is under arrest, in anticipatory bail, a person is directed to be released on bail even before arrest is made. ... The provision empowers only the Sessions Court and High Court to grant anticipatory bail.

As opposed to ordinary bail, which is granted to a person who is under arrest, in anticipatory bail, a person is directed to be released on bail even before arrest is made. S. 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, lays down the law on anticipatory bail.

Anticipatory bail can be granted even after an F.I.R. is filed, so long as the applicant has not been arrested. 103. This would show that even during the investigation, there are two stages at which there may be apprehension of arrest. One is, before the F.I.R. and another is subsequent to the F.I.R.

The provision of anticipatory bail under Section 438 was introduced when CrPC was amended in 1973. The bench said life of anticipatory bail does not end generally at the time and stage when the accused is summoned by court, or after framing of charges, but can also continue till the end of trial.“However, if there are any special or peculiar features necessitating the court to limit the tenure of anticipatory bail, it is open for it to do so,” the bench said.

An anticipatory bail is granted in anticipation of arrest. After the court grants it, you are free to go and you have to honour the terms of the bail application. No you don't have to go to the police station. You have to be present at the trial and cooperate with the investigation.

Thus interim bail is a temporary bail for a period in which the higher court can call documents required to make a final decision on the bail application in which the court can either grant permanent bail, extend interim bail or even reject bail application.

Before bail is granted to the accused, a surety gives a guarantee to the Court that the accused will appear in the Court as and when required. Moreover, a sum of money is to be deposited to ensure his appearance before the Court, which otherwise stands forfeit.

Anticipatory Bail: A direction issued to release a person on Bail even before the person is arrested. In this situation, there is apprehension of arrest and the person is not arrested before the Bail is granted. For such Bail, a person can file an application under Sec. 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

Bail often means a defendant enters into a recognisance (a bond between them and the court) to pay money if they break the conditions of bail. Anyone providing a guarantee (or surety) may also have to enter into a recognisance. These are people who are prepared to enter into a bond and lose money if the defendant breaks their bail conditions.If a person is charged and released by the police on bail, the first court appearance must be within 28 days from the date of the charge.

The fee for the bail bond is always decided by the judges of the court it may be only 10%-20% is to be paid at the time of bail or the full bond payment may be demanded by the court. Bail depends on the following conditions by observing the seriousness of the crime in terms of injury to others, suspects criminal records, the danger that suspects release might pose to the community, suspects tie to the community, family, and employment.

Can the police refuse to file my complaint? Yes and no. A police officer can refuse to file your complaint if he believes the case is of petty issue or also if they don't have the territorial jurisdiction in such cases. Crimes are generally segregated into “cognizable” and “non-cognizable” offences.

Bail amount can not be refunded. The bail amount is deposited for securing release pending trial, hence once you deposit such amount you get out of prison.

Some grounds on which anticipatory bail stands cancel:

(1) When the person on bail is found tampering with the evidence either during the investigation or during the trial. (2) When the person on bail commits a similar offence or any heinous offence during the period of bail.

The matter is a contractual dispute of a Purchase Sale Agreement of goods. The complainant for reasons best known to them does not call for Arbitration but instead moves to Delhi High Court in order to Challenge the Anticipatory Bail Granted.

In case of bailable offence the police have power to grant bail, but after the challans are filed in court, the accused person has to fill the prescribed bail bond in order to get regular bail from court.

The police cannot keep any person arrested for any alleged offence for more than twenty-four hoursWithin 24 hours the police is legally duty-bound to produce the said arrested person before the nearest magistrate under whose jurisdiction the alleged offence has been committed. In case the police fails to produce him within the prescribed period of 24 hours, the detention will amount to an illegal detention, and on moving a habeas corpus writ petition, he has to be set at liberty at once. There have been instances, where police have kept persons in their custody for more than 24 hours, and on filing a writ petition they have been ordered to be released.

India legal system : quick facts

India became an independent democratic republic in 1947 and its constitution, which came into force on 26th November 1949, is the supreme law. India has a common law legal system whose infrastructure bears the influence of British colonial rule.

Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay

The code was drafted in 1860 on the recommendations of the first law commission of India established in 1834 under the Charter Act of 1833 under the Chairmanship of Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay.It came into force in British India during the early British Raj period in 1862. However, it did not apply automatically in the Princely states, which had their own courts and legal systems until the 1940s. The Code has since been amended several times and is now supplemented by other criminal provisions.

The Anglo-Hindu Law evolved from the classical Hindu law during the British rule in India from 1772 to 1947. The British adopted the modern law or the English legal system and replaced the existing Indian laws except for family or personal laws in matters such as marriage, inheritance and succession of property.

By the 22nd century BC, the ancient Sumerian ruler Ur-Nammu had formulated the first law code, which consisted of casuistic statements ("if … then ..."). Around 1760 BC, King Hammurabi further developed Babylonian law, by codifying and inscribing it in stone.

One significant feature of the ancient Indian legal system was the absence of lawyers. Another notable feature was that a bench of two or more judges was always preferred to administer justice rather than a single individual being the sole administrator of justice.

Neelakanta Ramakrishna Madhava Menon

Neelakanta Ramakrishna Madhava Menon (4 May 1935 – 8 May 2019) was an Indian civil servant, lawyer and legal educator, considered by many as the father of modern legal education in India.He is the founder of National Law Universities system and first director of the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) and the National Judicial Academy, Bhopal and the founder-vice-chancellor of the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS). He has also served as Chairman of Indian Statistical Institute from 2002 to 2003.

Menon was awarded the Padma Shri in 2003[5] and Padma Bhushan in 2020 by the Government of India.

After the Rebellion of 1857, the crown took over the administration in India. The Criminal Procedure Code, 1861 was passed by the British parliament. The CrPC was created for the first time ever in 1882 and then amended in 1898, then according to the 41st Law Commission report in 1973.